On sale now from Dark Horse is B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Exorcism #1, beginning a two-part story scripted and drawn by one of ComicsAlliance's favorite creators, Cameron Stewart. Devised with B.P.R.D. creator Mike Mignola, Exorcism continues Dark Horse's blitz of 2012 B.P.R.D. specials that have spotlighted fan-favorite supporting characters from the much beloved Hellboy spinoff franchise. In Stewart's book, he gives the stage to Ashley Strode, a plucky young field agent whose last appearance in 2008 left readers wanting to see much more of the headstrong rookie.

In her previous appearance (collected conveniently in the B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs volume 2 hardback or the B.P.R.D. War on Frogs paperback), we saw that Ashley was frustrated by the lack of other strong female agents in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, and was eager to prove herself as a valuable field agent in the mold of Liz Sherman. In Exorcism, B.P.R.D. director Tom Manning gives her what he thinks is a busy work assignment that turns out to be much more.

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Exorcism was first announced here on ComicsAlliance back in November of 2011, when we spoke to Stewart about the project.

"Ashley has only had one very brief appearance in the past, so it's been fun to extrapolate and flesh her out a bit. She's someone who hasn't quite found her comfortable place in the B.P.R.D. yet -- she transferred into it from the 'normal' military and is still a bit overwhelmed and unnerved by the monsters and ghosts," Stewart explained. "At the beginning of the story she's sitting in as an assistant on an exorcism, which her inexperience causes to go terribly wrong. This sends her on a mission to find someone from the B.P.R.D.'s past to set right her mistake and help her become a stronger agent."













B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Exorcism #1 is on sale now in finer comics stores and digitally from Dark Horse Digital.

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