Lovecraft Anthology 2

Over Christmas I tweeted my thoughts on the second Self Made Hero Lovecraft Anthology. You probably missed it. I think everybody missed it. (Well, I know Pat Mills read one of them, but I did tag him when I reviewed his story, so I am not sure that counts.) In any case, here they are again, collected for your perusement:

Introduction: Here we go then, single tweet reviews of each story in The Lovecraft Anthology volume eleven (or possibly two)...

Pickman's Model by Delano & Pugh. Nice and punchy, if not 100% effective. Reminded me of the Revolver horror special.

The Temple by Lackey & Salmon. Yeah, now this is the stuff. Classic Lovecraft, with shades of Das Boot and The Keep.

From Beyond by Camus & Fructus. Creepy, but errs on the psychedelic side. I like my Lovecraft a bit more subtle.

He by McPherson & Peart-Smith. The script probably doesn't quite work, the ending is too abrupt, but the art is fine.

The Hound by Fifer & Baugh. Another highlight. Conan Doyle take note, this is how to do creepy dogs.

The Nameless City by Mills & Futaki. Mountains of Madness in minature. I liked it well enough.

The Picture in the House by Dickson and McMahon. Totally genius, as you might expect from McMahon. This stupid ending is Lovecraft's fault!

The Festival by Spurrier & Timson. Another throwback to 90s horror comics, and another success. Very Christmassy too. Well, sort of!

Statement of Randolph Carter by Lockwood & Cadwell. A very famous story. Not a bad job, but the punchline is mangled, a massive shame.

Conclusion: every strip is good, a few are great. A fine book, roll on volume one hundred and eleven (or three, if you prefer).

The Lovecraft Anthology

This was my main purchase at the recent Bristol Comic Expo:



I am a massive Lovecraft fan and really enjoyed the Self Made Hero adaption of Mountains of Madness, so expectations were high. In a spirit of extreme modernity I tweeted my thoughts on each story. In a spirit of recycling those tweets into a review, here they are again...

1 Call of Cthulu. Slightly disappointing. Reads like an illustrated abridged short story not a comic strip. Guess this was hard to adapt. I feel I should add that I am a massive fan of Edginton and D'Israeli, The Great Game in particular was a masterpiece. I think, though, they tried to do Call a bit too literally, and it doesn't really work.

2 Haunter of the Dark. Pretty good. Feels like a proper comic. Lovely evocative art by Shane Oakley. Possibly a bit under coloured.

3 The Dunwich Horror. Pure genius. Didn't think Rob Davis liked Lovecraft but his script is near perfect. Ian Culbard art out of this world.

4 Colour Out of Space. Nicely done. Not one of my favourite HPL stories but I enjoyed this version of it.

5 Shadow Over Innsmouth. Decent adaption by Moore & Reppion with stand out art by Leigh Gallagher, channeling John Ridgeway I feel.

6 The Rats in the Walls. Enjoyable if slight. Not sure it quite captures the spirit of the original. Shocking ending though.

7 Dagon. Nice vignette to end on. Story harks back to the Call of Cthulu but totally different art style gives it distinctiveness.

Conclusion: Has its ups and downs like any anthology, but overall it's a great collection. Recommended.