Sequential Dread
September 26, 2011 10:31 AM Subscribe
There have been many comics adaptations of Lovecraft. These are some of them. (Some images NSFW.)
The Shadow Out of Time. Pickman's Model. The Music of Erich Zann. Cool Air. From Beyond. Celephais. The Strange High House in the Mist. The White Ship.
The Shadow Out of Time. Pickman's Model. The Music of Erich Zann. Cool Air. From Beyond. Celephais. The Strange High House in the Mist. The White Ship.
The first link is great - it has scans of some old EC comics from the 50's.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:36 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 10:36 AM on September 26, 2011
Lovecraftian mythos in the style of a Jack Chick tract.
Nothing and No one CAN SAVE YOU! ABANDON HOPE NOW! HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Admit you are a semi-evolved ape-thing mercifully ignorant of the sanity-blasting truths of the greater cosmos.
2. Die.
3. Rot.
posted by The Michael The at 10:42 AM on September 26, 2011 [14 favorites]
Nothing and No one CAN SAVE YOU! ABANDON HOPE NOW! HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Admit you are a semi-evolved ape-thing mercifully ignorant of the sanity-blasting truths of the greater cosmos.
2. Die.
3. Rot.
posted by The Michael The at 10:42 AM on September 26, 2011 [14 favorites]
ricochet biscuit, those faux Tintins are great.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:44 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:44 AM on September 26, 2011
That's one hell of a splash page in the "Cool Air" adaptation.
posted by Iridic at 10:46 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Iridic at 10:46 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Ian Culbard is doing some fantastic Lovecraft adaptations at the moment, in particular his Mountains of Madness. It's not on the interwebs though so you'll have to buy it.
posted by Artw at 10:53 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 10:53 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
That's one hell of a splash page in the "Cool Air" adaptation.
Berni Wrightson. Some of his work was republished by Pacific, which dubbed him "Master of the Macabre." Back issues are cheap and well-worth picking up.
My goodness, he was a good-looking young man.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:28 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Berni Wrightson. Some of his work was republished by Pacific, which dubbed him "Master of the Macabre." Back issues are cheap and well-worth picking up.
My goodness, he was a good-looking young man.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:28 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
My goodness, he was a good-looking young man.
I thought, for a moment, you meant Lovecraft, and I was almost about to search for a cold compress to memail to your forehead....
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:33 AM on September 26, 2011
I thought, for a moment, you meant Lovecraft, and I was almost about to search for a cold compress to memail to your forehead....
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:33 AM on September 26, 2011
No The Color Out of Space? Damn, and that was my favorite.
posted by Slackermagee at 11:38 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by Slackermagee at 11:38 AM on September 26, 2011
Stross has invaded my brain and I can no longer think of the Old Ones without thinking the words CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, baby.
posted by phearlez at 11:39 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by phearlez at 11:39 AM on September 26, 2011
How handsome you find Lovecraft is going to come down to how much you like lantern jaws, aviary noses, high foreheads, and gigantic proportions.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:40 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:40 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's a pretty solid Colour out of Space in The Lovecraft Anthology.
posted by Artw at 11:44 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by Artw at 11:44 AM on September 26, 2011
The is now a German movie of The Colour out of Space. It's in Black and White.
posted by Artw at 11:50 AM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:50 AM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
How handsome you find Lovecraft is going to come down to how much you like lantern jaws, aviary noses, high foreheads, and gigantic proportions.
His wife called him an "adequately excellent lover." Illustrate that!
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:55 AM on September 26, 2011
His wife called him an "adequately excellent lover." Illustrate that!
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:55 AM on September 26, 2011
It's in Black and White
If I understand correctly, I think the colour is, well, in color. Which is a neat idea. I haven't ordered a copy, but I probably will.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:58 AM on September 26, 2011
If I understand correctly, I think the colour is, well, in color. Which is a neat idea. I haven't ordered a copy, but I probably will.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:58 AM on September 26, 2011
The artist for Celephaïs also drew a comic for the whole book of Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, of which I am a proud and happy owner. I see he's got a Kickstarter project to republish that comic and his other Lovecraft adaptations as a graphic novel. It's already fully funded but fundraising is still open; $40 gets you essentially a pre-order.
posted by Nelson at 12:08 PM on September 26, 2011
posted by Nelson at 12:08 PM on September 26, 2011
Yay Bernie Wrightson Cool Air.
Cool post, thanks.
posted by marxchivist at 12:21 PM on September 26, 2011
Cool post, thanks.
posted by marxchivist at 12:21 PM on September 26, 2011
The second link mentions some of Alan Moore's Lovecraft-related work, but not all. In addition to The Courtyard (adapted from a short story that Moore wrote for a Lovecraft anthology) and Neonomicon, Avatar also published Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths, which collects a lot of Moore miscellanea including bits of the lost novel Yuggoth Cultures (lost as in he left it in the back of a London taxi). There's also a bit in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier which is a mash-up of Wooster and Jeeves and Lovecraft (alas, not an original idea), plus miscellaneous references to the mythos in the text additions to the first two LoEG chapters.
Also, as long as we're talking about Lovecraft and British comics writers, let's not forget Warren Ellis' Planetary/Authority crossover that featured a thinly-disguised Lovecraft and a vast tentacled horror invading a seaside New England town; arguably, the pyramid-shaped "turd god" from Ellis' last Authority arc is quasi-Lovecraftian in that it's an ancient deity returning to the Earth to remake it in its image.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:26 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Also, as long as we're talking about Lovecraft and British comics writers, let's not forget Warren Ellis' Planetary/Authority crossover that featured a thinly-disguised Lovecraft and a vast tentacled horror invading a seaside New England town; arguably, the pyramid-shaped "turd god" from Ellis' last Authority arc is quasi-Lovecraftian in that it's an ancient deity returning to the Earth to remake it in its image.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:26 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Another Jack Chick parody:
http://jackchick.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/chick-parody-who-will-be-eaten-first/
posted by felix at 12:37 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
http://jackchick.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/chick-parody-who-will-be-eaten-first/
posted by felix at 12:37 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Comics Artist Francesco Francavilla Calls Out TeeFury For 'Ripping Off' Artwork
posted by Artw at 1:32 PM on September 26, 2011
posted by Artw at 1:32 PM on September 26, 2011
If I understand correctly, I think the colour is, well, in color. Which is a neat idea. I haven't ordered a copy, but I probably will.
I have it on DVD, the version published by the HPLHS. You're correct about the Colour, but it doesn't appear until quite a long way into the movie. It gets you solidly used to the movie being in black and white before IT shows up.
I thought, for a moment, you meant Lovecraft, and I was almost about to search for a cold compress to memail to your forehead....
You know, poor Lovecraft was awfully self-conscious about that in life. He didn't look that bad.
posted by JHarris at 2:12 PM on September 26, 2011
I have it on DVD, the version published by the HPLHS. You're correct about the Colour, but it doesn't appear until quite a long way into the movie. It gets you solidly used to the movie being in black and white before IT shows up.
I thought, for a moment, you meant Lovecraft, and I was almost about to search for a cold compress to memail to your forehead....
You know, poor Lovecraft was awfully self-conscious about that in life. He didn't look that bad.
posted by JHarris at 2:12 PM on September 26, 2011
On the TeeFury thing:
Those two images are just two iterations of a long tradition of depicting Lovecraft around squamous and rugose tentacled beasties. Chaosium alone is responsible for probably a half-dozen of these. There are only a handful of surviving photographs of Lovecraft and they've all been used to source illustrations many times over.
The image is fairly close in composition through, and that thing in his eye is difficult to explain away though. Don't know if it'd hold up in court though. Even if it did, there's probably no reason TeeFury wouldn't just draw up a new image that's slightly farther away from it visually.
posted by JHarris at 2:28 PM on September 26, 2011
Those two images are just two iterations of a long tradition of depicting Lovecraft around squamous and rugose tentacled beasties. Chaosium alone is responsible for probably a half-dozen of these. There are only a handful of surviving photographs of Lovecraft and they've all been used to source illustrations many times over.
The image is fairly close in composition through, and that thing in his eye is difficult to explain away though. Don't know if it'd hold up in court though. Even if it did, there's probably no reason TeeFury wouldn't just draw up a new image that's slightly farther away from it visually.
posted by JHarris at 2:28 PM on September 26, 2011
There's also a bit in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier which is a mash-up of Wooster and Jeeves and Lovecraft (alas, not an original idea), plus miscellaneous references to the mythos in the text additions to the first two LoEG chapters.
I love that illustration on the cover of Scream for Jeeves. "You calamari sir? It's a bit underdone I'm afraid."
posted by JHarris at 2:31 PM on September 26, 2011
I love that illustration on the cover of Scream for Jeeves. "You calamari sir? It's a bit underdone I'm afraid."
posted by JHarris at 2:31 PM on September 26, 2011
Okay, okay, I know I harp on about this but A Colder War is easily the best thing Stross has written and needs to be expanded into a World War Z-type affair. On subject, Alan Moore's Neonomicon is diabolically bad.
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:09 PM on September 26, 2011
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:09 PM on September 26, 2011
I liked "A Colder War" a lot, but I fear (for a number of reasons, few of which have to do with the story's ability or lack thereof to achieve enduring popularity) that its political references marry it so closely to a bygone era that much of its humor would work about as well on youngish people now as Roth's Our Gang did on me when I read it as a teenager in 1989. Even now I feel reading it a little like I'm in the recent SNL skit where the Dead Kennedys-esque band has an impromptu reunion at a member's daughter's wedding reception and starts screaming "burn in hell, Alexander Haig!" and the like to a crowd of amused and baffled twenty-somethings. It's not a criticism of the story so much as it is a sad commentary on our ability to maintain awareness of our recent history, much less any outrage regarding it.
I loooooooove Neonomicon. Love. It. The thing to remember is that it's not an adaptation of Lovecraft so much as it is an adaptation of Lovecraft's themes. And it gets as gross as it does because it has to go there and show you the stuff Lovecraft wouldn't. I mean, how bad does it have to be for the dude at the end of every other story to pull a "IA! IA! THE WINDOW! THE WINDOW! IA!"? I'm thinking at least as bad as what we see in Moore and Burrows's comic.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:22 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I loooooooove Neonomicon. Love. It. The thing to remember is that it's not an adaptation of Lovecraft so much as it is an adaptation of Lovecraft's themes. And it gets as gross as it does because it has to go there and show you the stuff Lovecraft wouldn't. I mean, how bad does it have to be for the dude at the end of every other story to pull a "IA! IA! THE WINDOW! THE WINDOW! IA!"? I'm thinking at least as bad as what we see in Moore and Burrows's comic.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:22 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
Neonomicon is not for everyone. And, TBH, I am not completely sure that the payoff is enough to make the grueling horribleness of issue 2. At the same time there's something about the way #2 goes from bad to worse, following an inevitable track and not cutting away or throwing in a save where you might expect one to be. It's claustrophobic and horrible and surprising because it goes so far an yet what else was going to happen?
So yeah, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, and I would forgive anyone for bailing on it, but at the same time i wouldn't call it bad, pretty far from it.
posted by Artw at 3:45 PM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
So yeah, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, and I would forgive anyone for bailing on it, but at the same time i wouldn't call it bad, pretty far from it.
posted by Artw at 3:45 PM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
1969, on the other hand, I have pretty much nothing good to say about.
posted by Artw at 3:46 PM on September 26, 2011
posted by Artw at 3:46 PM on September 26, 2011
I liked Michael Caine, but you know, he'll be in anything.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:48 PM on September 26, 2011
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:48 PM on September 26, 2011
The second link mentions some of Alan Moore's Lovecraft-related work, but not all. In addition to The Courtyard (adapted from a short story that Moore wrote for a Lovecraft anthology) and Neonomicon, Avatar also published Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths, which collects a lot of Moore miscellanea including bits of the lost novel Yuggoth Cultures (lost as in he left it in the back of a London taxi). There's also a bit in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier which is a mash-up of Wooster and Jeeves and Lovecraft (alas, not an original idea), plus miscellaneous references to the mythos in the text additions to the first two LoEG chapters.
I read that. It made me feel a bit better about my brother's Lovecraft obsession of Moore has it too.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:28 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I read that. It made me feel a bit better about my brother's Lovecraft obsession of Moore has it too.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:28 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't know if Moore is obsessed with Lovecraft so much as has read and referenced everything, ever, or at least up till nineteen eighty-something.
posted by Artw at 4:30 PM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:30 PM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]
speaking of hpl comics, "medusa's coil" hasn't been adapted yet. i wonder why
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 4:40 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 4:40 AM on September 27, 2011
Heh. I think you'd have a hard time inventing a more ridiculous or racist ending that that of Medusa's Coil. Even among the collaborations that one is garbage.
posted by Artw at 3:49 PM on September 27, 2011
posted by Artw at 3:49 PM on September 27, 2011
Comics Artist Francesco Francavilla Calls Out TeeFury For 'Ripping Off' Artwork
Both images probably soon to appear on the Something Behind Lovecraft tumblr (whose name I've bowdlerized.)
posted by Zed at 2:28 PM on October 4, 2011
Both images probably soon to appear on the Something Behind Lovecraft tumblr (whose name I've bowdlerized.)
posted by Zed at 2:28 PM on October 4, 2011
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posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:36 AM on September 26, 2011 [14 favorites]