B.P.R.D.: The Dead

B.P.R.D.: The Dead is the fourth trade paperback collection in the B.P.R.D. series.

Publication history
B.P.R.D.: Born Again was originally published as a short, eight-page story, in the Hellboy Premiere Edition, an exclusive comic made available through Wizard magazine #148. It was written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by Guy Davis. Born Again was John Arcudi's first B.P.R.D. story.

B.P.R.D.: The Dead was originally published from November 2004 through to March 2005 as a five-issue B.P.R.D. comic book miniseries, written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi with art by Guy Davis and published by Dark Horse comics. Each issue featured a cover by Guy Davis. The story introduced Ben Daimio.

Born Again
Johann, Liz, Roger and Abe investigate the bones of a large creature that has been haunting Caulfield, a suburb in Chicago. When Johann uses his ectoplasm to speak with the creature, it takes over Johann. Liz destroys the creature with her fire and Johann escapes no worse for wear. Roger finds a strange device that once belonged to the North American Shamans of long ago.

Chapter 1
The plague of Frogs is moving further west, away from the B.P.R.D. headquarters in Connecticut. Due to funding problems and the growing frog threat, the B.P.R.D. is going to be relocated to an abandoned military research facility in Colorado. Joining the B.P.R.D. is formerly deceased (but only for three days) Benjamin Daimio.

Abe investigates his past and learns he was once a man called Langdon Everett Caul and had a wife called Edith Howard. Abe decides to visit Caul's former residence.

Chapter 2
In Caul's house, Abe is confronted by the ghost of his former wife and pulled into her delusional fantasy, locking out the world.

In the new B.P.R.D. headquarters Johann starts hearing sounds no one else can hear. He uncovers the basements levels where they discover an old man, clutching a typewriter.

Chapter 3
The old man (Dr. Gunter Eiss), explains how he was a former NAZI scientist that began working for the American government in 1946, working to "tap the divine infinite". An experiment went wrong, and he was the only survivor, entombed in the basement since 1958, living off mushrooms.

Johann begins to sort through files from the 1940s and 50s found in the basement along with Dr. Eiss, following messages reading, Vorsicht ("Beware" in German). Johann disappears shortly afterwards and comes into contact with the ghosts of scientists.

Kate goes looking for Abe, but a storm is picking up, one that threatens the old Caul house.

Chapter 4
Ghosts appear in the new B.P.R.D. headquarters along with an eruption of flames. In all the confusion, Dr. Eiss goes into an elevator, heading back to the basement levels. Roger finds Johann building a strange device and talking to himself in German.

Daimio leads the others into the basement levels to confront Dr. Eiss. The doctor claims to have Longinus's Spear. He attacks the B.P.R.D. soldiers and attempts to open a gate to the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead he becomes the gateway to a monstrous creature.

Chapter 5
Johann arrives in the basement with the device he was building strapped to his back. He uses it to destroy the creature. In the chaos, Daimio finds a strange monkey-like creature in a jar. After the otherworldly creature is destroyed, the ghosts of dead scientists depart from his containment suit. Dr. Eiss stumbles out of the wreckage, but is shot by Daimio to be sure that the gateway to the other world is permanently closed.

Abe, now lost in a fantasy where he is still Caul and living with his wife, discovers a mirror. In it, he sees himself as he truly is, and encourages Edith to do the same, to admit to herself that she is dead. When she does, her spirit passes, and Abe is left alone in the ruined house.

Trade Paperback
The trade paperback includes a sketchbook with art by Guy Davis:
 * B.P.R.D.: The Dead (152 pages, September 28, 2005, ISBN 978-1-59307-380-0)

B.P.R.D Omnibus Edition
The trade was later collected as a part of the Plague of Frogs cycle in the B.P.R.D. Omnibus format, along with B.P.R.D.: War on Frogs and B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame. This format is available in both harcover and paperback editions.
 * B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs - Volume 2 (480 pages, August 17, 2011, ISBN 978-1-59582-672-5)