Cheers man, it's a great series that is really coming into its own. At first you read it and think well with a few things added why isn't this just part of the hellboy universe? But now with it going a bit deeper, it actually stands as this really cool thing that stands on its own and is kind of a good solution if you find reading orders or the sheer mass of mignola stuff a pain. Where are you at with Hell On Earth/are you reading Abe too?
It is definitely a little confusing, I would assume it's probably the number one barrier for entry to the whole mignolaverse, people look is, see the sheer amount and the number of different series with different tag lines and bounce right off. I've read the entire mignola line through now maybe 4-5 times since I finished catching up with the trades, I like to do it once a year from beginning to end, and even then I catch myself on reading order. The thing they don't make apparent enough, is that it's not too important, especially with the way the mignolaverse interacts. You can really do like hellboy vol 1-6, BPRD volume x-y, you don't need to switch every arc or anything, even though chronologically you could. There is absolutely crossover of lore and events, but it's often put to you in this eureka moment - if you've read the other side of a fact you were jsut given you have this "HOLY SHIT, THIS IS ACTUALLY CONNECTED TO THAT" , but if you haven't read that thing elsewhere, it's no biggie, and if you read the other thing later, it still comes together nicely, the books never hang on reading in a specific order. I totally agree though, I hope when everything is done and they come round to putting it all back out, they really sit down and think carefully about how they put it out and so on.
Tiz, I wish I was as concise as you man XD
