Summer getaways with the B.P.R.D.

With Hellboy II: The Golden Army coming in July, there’s no better time to get up to speed on what’s happening with the characters in the B.P.R.D. Dark Horse will be releasing three new B.P.R.D. titles by Mike Mignola and B.P.R.D. vet John Arcudi into the Hellboy Universe for summer reading pleasure — with new revelations for Liz Sherman and the origin story for Johann Kraus, as well as a bit of backstory for the Bureau’s battle with the infamous frog creatures.

June 5th will see the first installment of War on Frogs — a series of four one-shots that pick up from the March-April B.P.R.D. feature on MySpace Dark Horse Presents. Renowned artist Herb Trimpe (The Incredible Hulk) joins regular B.P.R.D. writer John Arcudi and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, with Guy Davis handling the inking, for the first one-shot story in this series that will feature a different legendary comics artist for each issue.

War on Frogs chronicles the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense’s fight against the frog monsters, set mostly between the events of B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs and B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame. As the frog cult spreads across America, Roger the Homunculus returns to the site of the B.P.R.D.’s first clash with the frog creatures — the ruins of Cavendish Hall, where Hellboy, Abe, and Liz first encountered both the frogs and Rasputin (Hellboy: Seed of Destruction) — to track down the final pieces of the puzzle of the Cavendish family. War on Frogs #2 is scheduled for a December release and will feature art by Eisner Hall-of-Famer John Severin (Two Fisted Tales)!

On June 18th, The Ectoplasmic Man arrives! This one-shot comic tells the origin of Johann Kraus — corresponding with Johann’s appearance in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and including previously unrevealed details of how he came to be. Mignola/Arcudi team up with illustrator Ben Stenbeck (Living with the Dead) to round out the creative team! The Ectoplasmic Man is the ideal introduction to one of the most peculiar members of the remarkable Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.

Finally, on July 9th, Mignola and Arcudi reunite with long-time B.P.R.D. illustrator Guy Davis for B.P.R.D: The Warning, a five-issue series that immediately follows the events of B.P.R.D.: Killing Ground.

The team rushes to track down the mysterious gentleman who’s been appearing in Liz’s visions, as a slew of old enemies menace the Bureau from all sides in a catastrophic escalation to the end of the world.

“I’m excited,” says Mike Mignola. “B.P.R.D. is really picking up speed now. Fans can start girding their loins for big, catastrophic changes to come.”

“As many changes as we’ve already seen take place in the B.P.R.D.,” says John Arcudi, “now is when it really starts getting nuts!”