Writers: Mike Mignola & John Arcudi
Artists: Guy Davis, Dave Stewart (colors)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
BPRD: Garden of Souls is a series of seemingly uninvolved scenes mostly revolving around everyone’s favorite paranormal investigation team. While some space in the book is dedicated to dealing with issues from the last story, most of this new beginning is dedicated to a setup that is as scattered as it is intriguing.
One of Mignola’s great strengths as a writer has been his ability to evoke the past in such a manner as to make it almost seem tangible. He does a great job of mixing fact, folklore and fiction to make otherwise improbable or fantastic things seem like they could have happened. Garden of Souls plays to this strength in its opening by putting the readers at a mummy unveiling. In the middle of the Victorian era, with its fascination with all things Egyptian, the public examination of mummies seems like something that fits right in. Honestly, I have no idea if such parties actually took place, but the team behind BPRD invokes the elements of this age so well, that it seems moot to question it. While the end of the party is a bit predictable, it still creates a moment of suspense that I found to be very satisfying.
From there BRPD jumps to Indonesia, Colorado, to a psychedelic dreamscape and back to nearly all three again. Unfortunately, the best of the scenes will be completely lost on any newcomers to the title. Former Marine Daimo was recruited into the bureau after a mission in Bolivia to rescue captive nuns. During the mission he and his team were killed by some kind of jaguar cult commanding(?) supernatural forces. He awoke three days later just before his autopsy and has been team leader ever since. Needless to say, there were many unanswered questions about this encounter in the jungle. These questions are brought up again in a disturbing and fun fashion. Well, it’s fun if you like being creeped out.
In the end, the story really jumps off when Abe Sapien, formerly the explorer Langdon Everett Caul, receives a package that contains a cigar case bearing his old initials. Now according to bio information on the front inside cover, this puts the cigar case’s age at a minimum of a century. Probably older. What is more intriguing is that what it contains and the questions it brings up. Chief of which is, who sent this to him?
If this review doesn’t make much sense to you, then you’re probably not a regular reader of BPRD. If you aren’t, then it is very likely you won’t enjoy Garden of Souls. But if you are, or you really enjoy cryptic mysteries, then this should be right up your alley.
If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at http://madbastard.hypersites.com.
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