For a comic with two giant demons duking it out, this issue felt pretty uneventful. That’s not to see that it wasn’t a fun read, just that I couldn’t recall much about what had happened once I had arrived at the last page. It’s seems appropriate that a BPRD story set in Japan would work in a kaiju battle, and it was nice to see the comic take on a lighter tone (Enos cheering on the more humanoid of the two skyscraper-sized demons to Johann and the other BPRD agents’ confusion) despite its apocalyptic surroundings and its knack for allowing bad shit happen to its main characters. I enjoyed the action of the battle, but was a bit confused by the cuts to the recently revived Japanese scientist who seemed tied to the battle although in a manner that’s never revealed in this issue.

Joe Querio’s art takes center stage in this issue, and he pulls off action that looks brutal in a manner only achievable by colossal forces. By Querio’s hands, the demons bite, pull and crush one another with believable force, and as the hits become more lethal, it’s difficult not to sympathize with the giant blue demon that suddenly appeared at the end of the previous issue. Suffice it to say that I’ve now added being defecated on with acidic gas by a squid/crab hybrid is now added to my top ten list of ways not to die.

The scientist’s fate at the end of the end of this issue makes me wonder how the mystery of the dimensional portal will be resolved at the end of this arc. Now that the behemoths are out of the way, I expect next issue to zoom back in on the BPRD agents left in Japan, and I’m hopeful that Mignola and company will integrate some sentai material before the group leaves the islands.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi Artist: Joe Querio Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 9/17/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital