4 out of 5

Once John Arcudi stepped on as writer of B.P.R.D., there was something of a push and pull between elements that felt like his, and those that felt like Mignola mandates, or things that had drifted over from the pre-established narrative. Arcudi would give us some fantastic focus on his team members, and the looming threat of… Zinco? Of frog men? …And then we’d have to splash around for a while in the deep pools of Mignolaverse lore before it felt like we could start moving forward again. The latter stuff is definitely integral to the whole of the experience, but it’s a different approach than John’s more linear style, which, for me, created a generally clear divide. And leading in to Black Goddess, John had struck on some storylines where it really felt like he had written himself in to a position in which he was more in control than Mike. But it turns out that wasn’t to forsake what came before, as this arc wraps back around to be the best mingling of Arcudi / Mignola styles heretofore seen: in which Hyperborean plotlines and Lobster Johnson plotlines and Liz plotlines all come to a frenzy (in Russia, to which our remaining B.P.R.D.ers had travelled to rescue Liz from Memnan Saa), and many “you must have read this one issue ten years ago” references are had, and Guy Davis goes bonkers with monsters and machines, and a massive sigh of relief can be released as the whole frog plague that’d kicked off the ongoing B.P.R.D. storylines finally feels like it’s heading somewhere legit.

There are similar storybeats to what preceded this, but they all feel more effective here: this time, when things go nuclear and gigantic horrors becoming vomiting from the ground, you feel the intensity and aren’t just told about it; Memnan Saa is a perplexing, frightening villains, and not just a stand-in for a bad guy; and Liz’s presence – despite hardly having a speaking role again – is required and important. The concluding back-and-forths between Abe, Kate, and Memnan are tense as heck as a result of the sharp rotting and pacing.

There are some odd visual hiccups from Davis – a craftsman with his design work, as seen in the sketches in the backmatter of the trades – in which the massive temple / realm in which this is all going down feels, internally, small compared to its exterior, and, as mentioned, without the benefit of rereading some tie-in stories just preceding this, some important stuff is gonna fly right by you. (As it did to me on my initial read when this was released, which I recall confusing the heck out of me outside of its main gist.) But this time this niggles don’t overwhelm: the story’s triumphs are above and beyond, making for quite the page turner, and rightfully reading like an event.