B.P.R.D.: Vampire #3
Written by Mike Mignola, Gabriel Ba, and Fabio Moon
Art by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
Color by Dave Stewart
Letters by Clem Robins
Cover by Fabio Moon
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 29, 2013
Cover Price: $3.50

Mike Mignola is the man. His Hellboy comics have brought me unbelievable amounts of joy over the years. Not to mention the multitude of spin off comics that he’s had a hand in during is all. And B.P.R.D.: Vampire #3 is just such a book. Rich history and well developed, though somewhat enigmatic, characters really bring this mini-series to life and capture the reader’s attention from start to finish.

Taking place directly after B.P.R.D.:1948, we bear witness to a tragic tale of a tormented field agent and the harrowing journey he must undertake to regain his fast-disappearing sanity and exact revenge upon the undead who’s dreams haunt him nightly. Agent Simon Anders finds himself in a Czech hamlet, following a lead that hopefully will take him to the Hecate worshiping vampires from his dream…or is it a memory, so vivid are the details. But as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.”

Having secured a guide, he is led to the ruined castle high upon the hill. Through dark and dank corridors he is led, discovering minimal clues but continuing to seek the fiends from his nightmares. As events unfold, however, we are given information that really changes our perspective of the so-called villain of the series. As with many of the B.P.R.D. comics, there is far more to the plot than the reader first sees.

Excellent storytelling coupled with classic Hellboy-like art completely brings this book to the top thanks to Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, both of whom handled the art and assisted with the story. The use of darkness to emphasize muted colors really captured the gothic feeling you expect from a vampire tale. Overall it was an excellent read, though you must read the first two in the series to piece it all together. That said, any Mignola fan is going to snatch it up. It doesn’t lean on heavily established characters as a selling point, which is good and bad. It’s nice to give a story a fresh start but also loses some folks who might normally have purchased it if any of the well known names were in it. I urge you to give this series a try, even if you don’t dig the undead theme. It has a lot to offer the reader, I promise. If you do decide to give it a shake, drop me a line in the comments to let me know what you think!