The B.R.P.D and I tend to get along swimmingly: I'm a big fan of the Hellboy 'verse, and a part of me really likeds stories that don't necessarily involve everyone's favourite cigar-smoking demon.

This tends to make these side-stories perfect for my Wednesday consumption, and the continuity-light arcs make for lovely batch-reading.

Some things I liked about this issue:

• Cameron Stewart's art is something I'm completely not used to in a Hellboy book, but in a good way; it doesn't evoke Mignola's original work, nor does it need to. Instead, it's brave, expressive, colorful and at times brutal - it does the job of telling this story without stamping the "Oh, it's B.R.P.D." seal on it again.
• The creature-morphing scenes are great examples of character design and fluidity in art. Seeing something shift from something to another (sorry, trying to avoid spoilers, here) once again highlights the artistic talents here.
• The final pags of the book add some depth to the characters present, and gives us a bit of a "happy ending" that we may not be used to in Hellboy books. I enjoyed it heartily.

Some things I didn't like:

• Oh man, was this plot cliche. I apologize for saying it outright, but I've read dozens of other arcs that involve someone having to exorcize a demon by defeating it in a "dream world," which may or may not release it to the "real world." Yawn.

B.R.P.D Hell on Earth: Exorcism #2 (of 2)
Dark Horse Comics
$3.50

The Verdict: Three owlbeasts out of five for finishing off a pretty mediocre story with strong art and a decent ending. Awesome character design, but I wish there was a meatier premise to throw them into.

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