Category Archives: Lovecraftian arts

Doctor Fate

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Historical context, Lovecraftian arts

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A long tribute to the Doctor Fate title from the Golden Age era of comic books (it’s the DC equivalent of Marvel’s Doctor Strange title)…

“For the first 135 pages, Doctor Fate Archives [printed volume collects More Fun Comics #55-98] features some of the wildest, eeriest and most entertaining stuff the era has to offer as far as mainstream comics go. […] While Doctor Fate is generally characterized as a sorcerer hero in modern comics, he’s actually presented here as a scientist who has discovered a way to manipulate his atomic structure and the atomic structure of other things as well, thus making it appear that he can do magic. The man who gives Fate his powers is not a sorcerer, but an alien who was worshipped as a god (just like Lovecraft’s great old ones). Fate even denies the existence of vampires and werewolves in one story, just as how Lovecraft often showed contempt for such “traditional” horrors and hardly ever used them. We also have a “witch haunted Salem”, characters who speak in odd, stilted dialogue with truly bizarre tense, hidden races, abandoned megaliths, as well as half man and half fish creatures that clearly were inspired by Lovecraft’s Deep Ones. Doctor Fate may well be the first Lovecraft pastiche in mainstream entertainment.” [my emphasis]

New Polish zine

07 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts, New books

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Super Lovecraft-portrait cover illustration, for the first issue of a new Polish zine…

“Available in February for distribution via online ebook shops, and also at selected retail sales outlets in Poland! The first issue of [Something On The Threshold], dedicated to horror, crime and amazing stories. The zine will have 64 pages in A5 format, and between the covers will be many excellent texts, both Polish and foreign. Including previously unpublished [in Polish?] works of H.P. Lovecraft. For more information, also about how to submit texts, can be found on the Facebook group page.”

Lovecraft infestation spreads through comics

05 Thursday Jan 2012

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A serious Lovecraft infestation spreads its tentacles through comics in early 2012. Infestation 2…

“is a 2012 multi-property crossover event that includes most of IDW Publishing’s licensed [comics] properties at time of publishing” […]

The first manifestation is an interesting concept… steampunk-era Transformers “strive against the incomprehensible evil of H.P. Lovecraft’s Elder Gods” during America’s Industrial Revolution, with the aid of Telsa…

This gripping [comic book] issue sets the stage for Lovecraft’s “Old Ones” to break through time and space and invade many titles, including TRANSFORMERS, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and a special fifth-week one-shot, INFESTATION: TEAM-UP, featuring Bat Boy and GROOM LAKE’s grey alien Archibald in February. Then in March, the Infestation spreads even further, infecting TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and G.I. JOE. In April, vampires battle zombies in 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: INFESTATION, followed by the stunning closing issue, INFESTATION 2 #2.

I’m not sure if the plots of all these get interlinked, but it sounds like they do. I somehow doubt I’ll be reading these to find out, but I love to observe the clever combinations of talent, conceptualisation, and marketing that goes into time-limited storytelling campaigns like this. There are even special temporary tattoos in each issue, thus kicking back against digital piracy. Perhaps the more staid book publishing world has something to learn from this sort of advanced combination of marketing and interlinked talent, focused into a three month period and harnessed to brands?

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

02 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts

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Coming in early 2012. Part two of a graphic novel, Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom (Arcana Studio) by Dwight MacPherson and Thomas Boatwright. Imagining Lovecraft’s adventures as a young child. Amazon has it as being published today, but that could be a database bot doing some wishful thinking? Since Amazon UK has a more precise date of 3rd April 2012. [Update: 3rd April is the actual date, confirmed]

The first part is reviewed here…

Fantasy Scrapbook Animation Competition

30 Friday Dec 2011

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Got monsters? Ray Harryhausen‘s Fantasy Scrapbook Animation Competition…

“Your task is to create a winning storyboard on the theme of monsters for a stop motion animation short — that, when shot, would last between 30 seconds and 3 minutes.”

Deadline: 12th February 2012. Note that they only want the storyboard, so real-time software such as iClone 5 (with its new sketch mode) could easily and quickly produce the stills for such storyboards.