| B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame | |
|---|---|
 Trade Paperback Cover | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Dark Horse Comics |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | July 12, 2006 |
| Main character(s) | |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Mike Mignola |
| Written by | |
| Artist(s) | Guy Davis |
| Letterer(s) | Clem Robins |
| Colorist(s) | Dave Stewart |
| Editor(s) | Scott Allie |
| Collected editions | |
| B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame | ISBN 978-1-59307-550-7 |
B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame is the fifth trade paperback collection in the B.P.R.D. series.
B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame was originally published from August 2005 through to January 2006 as a six-issue B.P.R.D. comic book miniseries, written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by Guy Davis and published by Dark Horse Comics. Each issue featured a cover by Mike Mignola. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Later, when this story would be collected in B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs - Volume 2, the first issue would become chapter one of War on Frogs, and the third issue of War on Frogs would become the epilogue for The Black Flame. This was to make for a better reading order. [8]
Daimio, Liz, Johann, Roger, and a host of B.P.R.D. soldiers battle hordes of frogs underground. Roger has become quite adept in battle, mimicking Daimio. When they find a nest, Liz burns it. Further underground, a figure from the Zinco Corporation collects the few tadpoles that escaped. [7]
At the Zinco Corporation, Mr. Pope, the head of the company, is pouring money into research and development to learn about the frogs. The frogs show a great deal of intelligence, and have learnt to talk and write.
Meanwhile, Abe has still not returned to the field since the Crab Point incident in Plague of Frogs. In British Columbia, Roger shows his skills as a leader by successfully avoiding a frog ambush.
Using the frogs he has raised and trained, Mr. Pope dons the outfit of a Nazi war criminal, The Black Flame, and goes out among the frogs in the wild.
In Montana, Liz is approached by an elderly woman who gives her a flower. Shortly afterwards, Liz passes out. [7]
Liz has a vision of a shadowy figure, warning her that the situation with the frogs is much worse than she can imagine. Liz awakens in a hospital bed, coughing up a balled-up piece of parchment. Professor O'Donnell sees the parchment which mentions Katha-Hem, a creature that will dwarf Sadu-Hem (the creature unleashed in Seed of Destruction and Plague of Frogs). Liz goes to speak to Daimio, interrupting some kind of therapy he's undertaking. After they both leave the room, unnoticed by Liz the "therapist" has mysteriously disappeared as if he was never there.
At the Zinco Corporation, Mr. Pope begins a ceremony that ignites true black flame on him.
In Ontario Roger is leading another attack against the frogs in a factory. After the battle, he sees The Black Flame watching him, then the factory explodes. All the B.P.R.D. soldiers are killed and among the ruins lies the remaining fragments of Roger's body. [7]
Liz is devastated by the news of Roger's death and moves into his room. Johann is alarmed by the manner in which Roger's remains are treated by the B.P.R.D.
Liz's visions of the shadowy figure continue, trying to shake her from her grief and into action.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, The Black Flame leads the frogs into battle. Abe finally decides to return to the field. The Black Flame learns that the frogs were only using him to summon Katha-Hem. In the battle that ensues, Abe is knocked unconscious. [7]
Abe awakens to find The Black Flame crouching over him, confessing to have made a mistake. The enormous creature, Katha-Hem, attacks the city of Lincoln. Realising the figure in her visions seems to know about Katha-Hem, Liz allows Johann to put her into a trance so that she can talk to him. This time Liz sees the figure clearly, a robed man covered in snakes. He shows her a tablet in hope that Liz will "see". Liz awakens from the trance in realisation. In Roger's room she finds the Shaman's device Roger recovered in Born Again. [7]
Johann, Abe, Liz and Daimio prepare themselves to attack Katha-Hem. Katha-Hem has been spewing masses of mist into Lincoln, transforming the city's population into monsters. When the B.P.R.D. attacks, Liz has a vision of a Hyperborean shaman holding the same device Roger found in Born Again . As the shaman chants, Liz copies his words, and the device becomes alive with energy. Liz releases the energy into Katha-Hem, destroying it.
The Black Flame, grateful to be free of the frogs, approaches Liz and asks her for help to get out of his suit, but he is taken by the frogs and dragged away.
In B.P.R.D. Headquarters, a crew begin dissecting Roger's body. When Johann learns of this, he is outraged and scares the scientists away. He then sits alone with the remains of his friend. [7]
The trade paperback includes a sketchbook with art by Guy Davis:
The trade was later collected as a part of the Plague of Frogs cycle in the B.P.R.D. Omnibus format, along with B.P.R.D.: The Dead and B.P.R.D.: War on Frogs . This format is available in both hardcover and paperback editions.
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The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is a fictional organization in the comic book work of Mike Mignola. The B.P.R.D. originally appeared in the Hellboy comics and has since become a major part of its expanded universe, where it was supposedly founded by the United States and United Kingdom governments, and charged with researching the occult, paranormal and supernatural, and also defending against their dangers.
Abraham Sapien, born Langdon Everett Caul, is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Ichthyo sapien", the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date the Oannes Club abandoned Abe's body in a suspended animation tank beneath a Washington D.C. hospital, leaving only a cryptic note as explanation. He is occasionally referred to as an "amphibious man."
Guy Davis is an American creature designer, concept artist, illustrator and storyboard artist who has worked on film, television, comic book and video game projects. He is known for his collaborations with filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, including the television series The Strain (2014–17) and the films Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015) and The Shape of Water (2017). Beforehand, Davis was the regular artist for the Hellboy spinoff comic B.P.R.D. (2003–2010), as well as the artist behind his own creator-owned comic The Marquis (2009).
Elizabeth Anne "Liz" Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola. A firestarter, she becomes a ward of the B.P.R.D. at age 11 after burning her family to death in a traumatic accident. Sherman later hones her abilities and becomes a longtime field agent for the Bureau alongside Hellboy and Abe Sapien.
John Arcudi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on The Mask and B.P.R.D. and his series Major Bummer.
Johann Kraus is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He is featured in the comic book B.P.R.D., published by Dark Horse Comics. Kraus is a disembodied ectoplasmic spirit with psychic abilities, who inhabits a containment suit, without which his form would eventually dissipate and be lost forever.
Katherine Corrigan is a fictional character from the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics and created by Mike Mignola. Her appearance is based on Mignola's wife, Christine. Within the world of the comics, dubbed the "Mignola-verse", Corrigan acts as B.P.R.D. field leader to "enhanced" agents including Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Roger the Homunculus, Liz Sherman and Johann Kraus.
Lobster Johnson is a fictional character featured in the Hellboy and Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He was created by Mike Mignola.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is a fictional supervillain in the comic book series Hellboy. The character was created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne, and was based on the real life Russian mystic of the same name. Rasputin serves as the second archenemy of Hellboy after the Ogdru Jahad.
Hellboy Animated is an American straight-to-DVD anime-inspired superhero film series based upon the Hellboy comic books by Mike Mignola. Both films are anthologies and contain the full-length titles named Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron, received the signature of Mike Mignola and Guillermo del Toro.
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction is the first Hellboy comic book mini-series, published by Dark Horse Comics. It was conceived and illustrated by Mike Mignola and scripted by John Byrne. The comic served as the basis for the 2004 film Hellboy, directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Hellboy: Wake the Devil is a five-issue comic book mini-series in the Hellboy franchise, conceived and illustrated by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics. Various elements and sections of plot were later used in the animated film Hellboy: Blood and Iron.
B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth & Other Stories is the first trade paperback collection in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) series.
B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories is the second trade paperback collection in the B.P.R.D. series.
Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others is the seventh trade paperback collection in the Hellboy series and published by Dark Horse Comics on October 3, 2007. It collects various mini-series, one-shots and back-up features featuring fictional paranormal detective Hellboy.
B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs is the third trade paperback collection in the B.P.R.D. series.
B.P.R.D.: Garden of Souls is the seventh trade paperback collection in the B.P.R.D. series.
The Hellboy Universe is the fictional universe of the Hellboy comic and its various spinoffs, created by Mike Mignola. Its first appearance was in a black-and-white, four-page promotional comic by Mike Mignola with a script by John Byrne published by Dark Horse Comics in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, distributed at San Diego Comic-Con. The Hellboy Universe currently spans over eighty trade paperbacks. It is also sometimes informally called the "Mignolaverse".
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