Comics Explained: The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense

The BPRD logo

The Hellboy comics, published by Dark Horse, have such a deep lore and interesting universe that it is a shame that it is not as widely known. A large part of why Hellboy has such a good universe it due to the actions of its creator: Mark Mignola. Just as Kevin Feige overlooks the Marvel movies so does Mignola look over the Hellboy comics. A recurring feature is the organisation The Bureau for Paranoral Research and Defense (BPRD). The BPRD offered a backdrop for the interconnected world of Hellboy and since 2002 has had its own comic series. As this is being written the new Hellboy movie has just been released so there is no better time to discuss the BPRD.

Origins

The founding of the BPRD

The BPRD debuted with Hellboy in a story called Seed of Destruction. On December 23, 1944 a group of US soldiers, the superhero Torch of Liberty, and the British Paranormal Society arrived at the quiet village of East Bromwich in England to prevent Project Ragna Rok. The Nazis had recruited the mystic Rasputin who had survived his assassination, and lived in secret for years, due to the worship of demonic celestial beings known as the Ogdru Jahad. Rasputin had been hired by the Nazis who wanted him to use magic, and the Ogdru Jahad, to win the war - instead Rasputin was using the Nazis to summon the Ogdru Jahad to destroy the world. In reality, the Nazis and Rasputin were really on a Scottish island in the North Sea where Rasputin was attempting to awaken his masters. However, Rasputin's summoning went wrong - instead of summoning his masters he instead summoned a demon baby in the church of East Bromwich.

One of the members of the British Paranormal Society - Trevor Bruttenholm - adopted the baby demon, and as the soldiers named it 'Hellboy' that became his name. Bruttenholm realised that something was needed to combat paranormal forces with the British Paranormal Society being reliant on the aid of others. In 1945 he formed the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, the BPRD for short, with it operating from Fairfield, Connecticut. Unlike in the movies by Guillermo del Toro, the BPRD are not a branch of the US government comparable to the FBI, in fact the BPRD and CIA loathe one another - instead they are a private organisation. The BPRD receives funding primarily from the US and UK, (although Japan, Italy, Canada, and France are also regularly fund them), and in 1952 the UN granted Hellboy 'Honorary Human' status. In the 1950s Bruttenholm resigned as director in order to focus more on fieldwork allowing Tom Manning to become the BPRD's director.

Key Members

Many individuals make up the BPRD, of whom many happened to be 'enhanced' - someone who has mystical powers. Here are just a few.

Hellboy

Naturally, Hellboy is the best known BPRD agent. As we've already done an entire blog post about Hellboy we won't discuss him much here - especially as at times Hellboy had left the BPRD. Hellboy was the son of a witch and a Hell-lord whose right hand was replaced with that of the 'Right Hand of Doom'. This hand was once that of the creator of the Ogdru Jahad and is the key to the awakening of the celestial beings. Since being summoned to Earth in 1944 he has become the BPRD's key agent fighting against hidden Nazis, a vampiric Napoleonic officer, ghost werewolves, and warlocks. With a gruff but kind attitude, and a dry sense of humour, he was a well loved agent.

Liz Sherman

Liz grew up in a devout Catholic family who treated her pyrokinesis (manipulation of fire) as a sign of sin so managed to control it through faith. That is until the age of eleven when at a birthday party a boy pulled on her ponytails surprising her and unleashing her powers - an entire city block, including her parents and brother, were incinerated. The BPRD kept Liz isolated in a flame-proof cell driving her into depression, until Hellboy, immune to her fire, offered her a lollypop to break the ice. This brought her out of her shell and began seeing Hellboy as an older brother. When Abe Sapien was introduced to the BPRD she grew to him due to their shared 'outsider' status. However, she has become over-reliant on the BPRD - she has left and returned repeatedly due to her being unable to cope with the 'outside' world. Liz's powers are not just typical pyrokinesis. When she lost her powers she started to die, Rasputin in Seed of Destruction described it as 'living' and capable of awakening the Ogdru Jahad, and wiped out an entire army of frog creatures.

Abe Sapien

Abe Sapien is the third agent best known. Abe is a half-fish person discovered in a tube in a hospital. On the tube was a note reading 'Ichtyo sapien' and the date of Lincoln's assassination, so he was named 'Abe Sapien'. BPRD scientists experimented on him until Hellboy stepped in, as they could never see when 'enough was enough', and took him out for a sandwich. Due to his treatment by the BPRD, and looking very much as an outsider, he became close friends with both Liz and Hellboy. During a near-death experience he managed to see his own creation. In the 1860s an egg was removed from undersea ruins by a man named Langdon Everett Caul. Caul took the end to a hospital where he and members of a secret society performed a ritual which caused Abe's future spirit to be absorbed into Caul, and the egg to turn to dust. The man then slowly began turning to fish before being locked in the tube and forgotten as he went into hibernation, and the society became involved in the assassination of Lincoln.

Johann Kraus

Born in Stuttgart at a young age Kraus realised that he was a psychic and could communicate with ghosts. With some training under a medium he was able to send his ectoplasmic form out of his body and into the etheric plane allowing him to properly talk with the dead. During a seance for a wealthy family a thief in Chengdou, China broke a jade figurine wiping out parts of the city with psychic energy. The spirit of a boy reached out through the etheric plane to Kraus, but the energy from doing so reverberated all the way to Germany killing the family and destroying Kraus's body. Regardless, his ectoplasm survived and managed to make contact with the BPRD who made him a containment suit so he could survive outside the etheric plane. As described by fellow agent Kate Corrigan: He's not dead. He just doesn't have a body anymore.

Ben Daimo

As Ben is in the new movie we should discuss him. He was sent on a mission to see who was killing tribes in the Bolivian rainforest where his unit came across a hidden cult worshipping a jaguar spirit who was killing locals as sacrifice. The cult wiped out his troops and as he was killed a spirit told him that his 'new life' would begin. He woke up in a body bag and was hired by the BPRD. Despite holding no powers his skills as a soldier made him an essential ally, but he was not liked. His brash and aggressive attitude made other agents, especially Liz, dislike him. However, one day the jaguar spirit started possessing him turning him into a powerful 'were-jaguar'.

Kate Corrigan

Kate is not an 'enhanced' agent, but she is perhaps one of the most important agents. An expert on folklore and the occult she was originally hired as a consultant, but she became increasingly involved with the BPRD. Eventually, she was made an official agent and was involved with all levels of running the organisation. Due to her open and friendly nature Hellboy took to her quickly - he considered her one of his closest friends consequently.

Enemies

Throughout the years the BPRD has encountered many enemies. Here are a few notable examples.

Rasputin

A monk and a mystic Rasputin followed the life of his real-world counterpart. He came to the Russian court earning the hatred of the nobility who assassinated him in 1916. The Ogdru Jahad found him, and preserved his dying body allowing him to flee to Italy where he regained his health in order to act as their mortal tool. Head of the SS Heinrich Himmler found him and hired Rasputin for Project Ragna Rok. After the war he vanished until 1994 with the events of Seed of Destruction. Taking root in Cavendish Manor he hoped to use Hellboy's right hand to awaken his masters, but was defeated and seemingly killed. His ghost survived to continue the work of the Ogdru Jahad.

Frog Monsters and the Black Flame

The Ogdru Jahad intended to create another race, a 'final race', to replace humanity known as the 'frogmen'. Powerful psychics they could transform to resemble humans and in their frog forms had immense psychical strength. CEO of Zinco Corporation, Landis Pope, learnt of Rasputin and wanted to harness powers of celestial beings, and he discovered the frogmen. Using the persona of the Nazi supervillain the Black Flame he hoped to use the frogmen and the power of one of the offspring of the Ogdru Jahad, Katha-Hem. The frogmen started attacking and raised Katha-Hem in the United States. However, it turned out that the Black Flame was actually being used by the frogmen in order to summon Katha-Hem - it was he who was the pawn. Liz used an artefact to increase her powers and incinerate the celestial being - with it destroyed the frogmen turned on the Black Flame and dragged him down into their subterranean lair.

Nimue

First mentioned in Darkness Calls #3 Nimue was the famous 'Lady in the Lake' of Arthurian legend. An ally of Merlin the wizard told her all of his secrets - she used it to imprison Merlin and rule over the world. However, unable to control her power she grew mad and started worshipping the Ogdru Jahad. In response the world's witches killed her, dismembered her body, and scattered the pieces around the world. Centuries later, Britain's witches were leaderless so reluctantly decided to resurrect Nimue. It took until The Wild Hunt #3 for her to be resurrected when the blood of an entire village was poured over her body - after all she is the 'Queen of Blood'. As the revived Nimue still loathed Britain's witches most decided to drown themselves in order to avoid her vengeance. Nimue's reign of terror was deadly - she even killed the queen of the fairies. 

Reading Recommendations

If you are interested in the BPRD here are some stories which I would recommend reading:

-Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

-BPRD: Hollow Earth

-BPRD: The Soul of Venice

-BPRD: Plague of Frogs

-Hellboy: Wake the Devil

Thanky you for reading and I hope you found it interesting. For future blog updates please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.

Comics Explained: Hellboy

Hellboy

Hellboy is perhaps one of the most underrated comic book characters of all time. A big part of this is because he is not from the two big comic books companies, (DC and Marvel), but instead from Dark Horse. From the mind of Mark Mignola Hellboy is a well-meaning, half-demon brought to Earth to destroy reality but is instead the world's greatest paranormal detective. Blending Lovecraftian ideas, pulp fiction, horror and folklore Hellboy is a thrilling read. He has made several appearances outside of print, most famously in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy and Hellboy 2. Recently he has been announced as a downloadable character for the DC fighting game Injustice 2 and in 2019 there will be a reboot which just this week, (as of writing), the new actor playing Hellboy was revealed in costume.

The new Hellboy

There have been many Hellboy stories so we're mainly going over the main ones. First, let's look at his real world origins.

Real World Origins

The first appearance

Hellboy first appeared in a convention program book in 1991 as a huge hulking monster which Mike Mignola added the name 'Hellboy' last minute. The name made him laugh and became the name of the character. Two years later a version of Hellboy resembling the form which we know now appeared on the cover of Italian comic Dime Press #4. Later Mignola wanted to make Hellboy into a comic and he started to resemble his present incarnation more. He originally wanted Hellboy to be in a team and the concept art shows several members of this team resembling future Hellboy characters. Their team logo was the same as the logo for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) which Hellboy is a key agent for. This team idea was abandoned when Mignola couldn't think of a good name to fit them. Then in August 1993 Hellboy got his own comic story in San Diego Comics Con Comics #2. 

Hellboy's First Story

Mignola was less interested in the plot and it is wild, paranormal, and sets up the future of the Hellboy comics. Hellboy goes to a town where all the inhabitants have suddenly vanished. The only thing that is there is a 'mangy little mutt' which turns out to be the Egyptian god Anubis. In a few panels Hellboy defeats the dog/god by slamming a gas station sign into Anubis' shoulder who then falls onto a gas pump which then explodes. 

Birth of the Demon

Hellboy's father

Hellboy's early origins were explained in The Chained Coffin. We have to go all the way back to 1617. Hellboy's mother was a witch in East Bromwich, England called Sarah Hughes. Sarah was married to a Hell lord named Azzael, (pictured above), but on her deathbed wished to repent. To repent this required her children to chain her to a coffin in the church of East Bromwich and keep her protected from Azzael for three nights. Naturally Azzael being a Hell lord he easily slaughtered Sarah's children on the first night, dragged her to Hell and told her that she was carrying 'a son, my favorite son'. Sarah was burnt in the fires of Hell and thanks to this Hellboy was born. He was given the name Anung Un Rama and his father cut off his right hand to replace it with the Right Hand of Doom. The Right Hand of Doom was a relic of the Ogdru Jahad, (which we'll discuss soon). As Azzael had done this the other Hell lords punished him by stripping him of his powers and then freezing him in ice. Those who have read Dante's Divine Comedy will recognize that Lucifer had the same thing done to him.

Ogdru Jahad

The Ogdru Jahad

The Ogdru Jahad perfectly shows the creativity of the Hellboy universe with it blending Christian myths with Lovecraftian themes. At the start of creation God created several great spirits and one named Anum stole some of God's power to create the Ogdru Jahad. Darkness had helped waken the Ogdru Jahad so they set out to destroy reality by creating the 369 Ogdru Hem. A war broke out between the Ogdru Hem and the spirits with the spirits winning. The Ogdru Jahad were sealed away and the spirits destroyed Anum, except for his right hand. Anum's right hand, renamed the 'Right Hand of Doom', is the only thing that can now reawaken the Ogdru Jahad. In punishment for allowing the Ogdru Jahad to be created God cast the spirits to either the pit or Earth. Those on Earth were granted physical forms and became the first people to inhabit the planet, called Hyperboreans. The Ogdru Hem barely survived through the eons and cults emerged serving the Ogdru Jahad which caused the decline of the Hyperboreans. When the Hyperboreans collapsed during the Ice Age their legacy continued through humanity, and with it the cults of the Ogdru Jahad.

Hellboy on Earth

Hellboy first arriving on Earth

Hellboy's arrival on Earth was first shown in Seed of Destruction. When Russian mystic and monk Grigori Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 he was revived by the Ogdru Jahad to act as their agent on Earth. When Hitler came to power he was contacted by the Nazis and started working for them. It is common knowledge that Hitler was fascinated by the paranormal so he wanted Rasputin to use supernatural forces to defeat the Allies. Rasputin agreed but his intention was never to fight the Allies. Instead his goal was to use the resources of the Nazis to trigger the Apocalypse by summoning the Ogdru Jahad. On December 23, 1944 Rasputin and a group of Nazi commandos arrived on a Scottish island to summon Amun's Right Hand in Project Ragna Rok. However, Britain's leading psychic Lady Cynthia Eden-Jones detected Rasputin's actions someday's prior. With a group of American commandos, Professor Malcolm Frost, paranormal expert Trevor Bruttenholm, and the Hellboy universe's version of Captain America Torch of Liberty went instead to the church of East Bromwich. Rasputin summoning went wrong and instead of being summoned to Scotland Anung Un Rama was summoned to East Bromwich. The soldiers nicknamed the summoned demon 'Hellboy' and the name stuck. Trevor Bruttenholm adopted Hellboy and raised him. 

Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense

The BPRD logo

After adopting Hellboy Trevor Bruttenholm had the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) formed. Unlike the movies in the world of Hellboy people are fully aware of the paranormal. The BPRD as a result is funded by several countries, mainly the USA and UK, and keeps good contacts with most governments and institutions, (China and the CIA being exceptions). Thanks to his membership of the BPRD in 1952 the United Nations granted him the status of 'honorary human'. Hellboy isn't the only 'enhanced' being to be a member of the BPRD. Other members have included a firestarter called Liz Sherman (changed to Hellboy's love interest for the movies), Ben Daimio a 'werejaguar', Roger the Homunculus, and an ectoplasmic spirit called Johann Kraus. My personal favorite is Abe Sapien. The best way to describe Abe is that he is a Gill-Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon. Abe was discovered sealed in a tube of water in Washington D.C. in 1978 and, was named 'Abe' as the paper attached to the tube was the same date as Lincoln's assassination and 'Sapien' as the tube read 'Ichtyo sapien'. 

I would highly recommend reading the Hellboy comics. I've avoided talking about the storylines as they are best read first hand with no spoilers. I hope you have enjoyed this post. For future posts please see our Facebook or get me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.