5 out of 5

Perfect.  Perfect dose of Mignola-ness; a perfect nod to Hellboy; a perfect amount of mythyness (which is to say: none); a perfect amount of weirdness; a perfect balance of humor and pathos.

Guy Davis, he of the crinkly line, is an ace designer, and the varied beasties and locales in the volume speak to that, sparing him the ‘acting’ at which he’s not so great, and building up to its massive scale moments, allowing us to appreciate the spaces he’s built before destroying them.

John Arcudi is a funny guy, and the many humorous beats here prove that once more, but he can also be a fantastic dramatist, and the tale-telling structure of The Universal Machine allows him to apply that ability to everyone – to Abe, to Johann, to Liz, and most importantly, to Roger – allowing the reader to connect with characters who normally may have a more brusque or off-putting exterior.

And then there’s just the general kookiness of the A plot, which has Kate Corrigan investigating an antiquities collector for a book that might hold a method for resurrecting Roger… and getting quizzed on all of the collector’s odd items in the meantime.  Meanwhile, the remainder of our B.P.R.D.ers sit around the lunch table and discuss death, which leads into fascinating, telling reflections from each.

I mentioned the lack of mythness: the Mignolaverse wouldn’t be what it is without Mike’s grounding of it in the spaceworm lore, then tacking all sorts of worldly folklore atop, but there came a need to move on, and Arcudi has used the evolution of that story into the Frogs to do that.  We’re in temporary clean-up mode from The Black Flame, allowing for events in this volume, but more importantly, the relationships and plots that are being built finally feel like they have their own inertia, and aren’t just catching up to what came before.

Which, of course, makes one excited for what comes next.