4 out of 5

Let’s be honest: while I’ve given some of the issues / arcs good reviews, I haven’t really been all that keen on B.P.R.D. since, well, it became Hell On Earth and went for the ongoing numbering format.  While the Hellboy world has forever been building its long, drawn out mythology and interconnecting story pieces, there was something about the isolated numberings that made it feel approachable, and somewhat humble.  Abandoning that was, in part, meant to indicate that we were heading for bigger things… and I guess I’ve just never been comfortable with that.  The world has been destroyed countless times by Cthulthuian creepos in the series (not really, but essentially), but the giant demons stalking the planet that came along with HoE pushed B.P.R.D. into overkill – almost comically so – territory, which wasn’t helped when the tone got so, so serious as well.  Maybe when the day comes that I’ll read this epic from start to finish I’ll have a different opinion.  For now, though, I find I like it when Arcudi dials it back to give us more character work.

End of Days isn’t that.  End of Days – apparently the penultimate arc for HoE and Arcudi – is the final (?) battle between the current Black Flame and Liz, and the newly Sledgehammered Johann.  It’s got tons of explosions, and punches that send people careening across a decimated New York, and plenty of cutaways to the various other characters and their current escalating machinations that would be accompanied by a Dunt Dunt Dunt score in a TV show.  And so I was as uninvested in this brawl as I have been in a lot of this, but… I think this is a worthwhile conclusion (or part 1 of 2 conclusions).  Meaning I think the team did an admirable job pacing wise of communicating the stakes, not making the fight feel too repetitive or imbalanced, and keeping the other story pieces moving.  When I set aside my desires for the B.P.R.D. of yore, I found I was able to enjoy this for the bit of actionry it is, and even admire how this fairly blockbuster presentation has been completely homegrown, which is pretty cool.  This also helped me to warm to and appreciate Laurence Campbell’s handling of the art chores, as I’ve found his sketch-heavy realism a bit stiff and bland previously – and it still is during the exposition sequences – but he illustrates the mixed bag of frightening and funky opponents perfectly, with enough weight to give their fight credence, but not so much to make it seem too overwrought.

So: even this guy who’s been waiting for this whole Hell On Earth thing to just be over already felt pretty happy with the payoff in End of Days, and an admitted surge of Fuck Yeah when flipping through those last climactic pages.