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Info:
- Issue: 5
- Authors: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis
- Publisher: Dark Horse
- Price: $2.99
B.P.R.D.: THE GARDEN OF SOULS #5
By
Kurt Amacker
July 20, 2007
B.P.R.D.: THE GARDEN OF SOULS #5
© Dark Horse
This final issue of the most recent B.P.R.D. miniseries, Garden of Souls, showcases Abe Sapien’s more rough-and-tumble side, as well as clueing him in to the insidious plot connected with his very origin. After preserving him in a water coffin as he transformed from Langdon Caul, man, to Abe Sapien, fish-man, his friends divined a way to preserve their bodies in walking metal contraptions. Kept alive, they plan to save the world by blowing up a large section of it and herding the souls of the deceased into the bodies of giants. Thus, a grimy world at its end for war and pollution will live on as a handful of giant nation-men. Abe doesn’t care for this at all, but his old friends assure him that his old self would’ve loved it. They’ve also got a bedridden psychic mummy named Panya living in their island home. She uses a little girl to communicate with undead B.P.R.D. agent and former Marine (hoo-rah) Capt. Daimio about the location of all those bombs I mentioned. Back at the island, it’s up to Abe to take his old friends back to school at the point of a sword.
The story sounds like Mike Mignola and John Arcudi wrote it with a dartboard and a pair of dice. But, they inject some much-needed humanity into the proceedings by delving into Panya’s past and her life in Victorian England as a celebrated oddity. The writers also examine Abe’s identity issue by forcing him to both acknowledge his past as Langdon Caul and realize that he has become an entirely different person. While all of the B.P.R.D. series have worked well enough (particularly the fantastic Universal Machine), Garden of Souls rises above the typical supernatural action-mystery story by allowing Sapien room to grow as a character and, for blood-hounds, hack off a few limbs. It’s never the tale, but the telling. Regardless, the plot still causes one’s brow to furrow. It’s a series of ridiculous ideas connected with unexpected panache and style, showing the reader what speculative fiction can really accomplish.
Garden of Souls concerns itself a bit too deeply with the history of long-established characters, so it will likely confuse new readers. Longtime fans will enjoy the series, and especially this last issue.
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