Dark Worlds Quarterly has a fine new survey, with a few predictably gory examples, of vintage Lovecraft in Black & White. This being a survey of b&w comics that have, over the decades, adapted various Lovecraft tales.

I especially liked the look of the opening splash page for “The Music of Erich Zann” adapted by Roy Thomas, in the short-lived Masters of Terror #2 (September 1975). Masters of Terror was a b&w magazine-format comics anthology published under Marvel’s Curtis cover-imprint, offering reprints.

I tracked it down online and found the same (final) issue also had “Pickman’s Model”, again adapted by Roy Thomas…

A rather good “Zann” reprint then, but from where? A little digging finds it was originally in colour under the title “The Music From Beyond” in Marvel’s regular-sized Chamber Of Darkness (issue #5, June 1970). This issue had nice Kirby pencilled cover-art, and a Kirby tale inside, so is collectable and thus pricey today.

“Ahah”, I thought, “this new metal album’s cover artwork is a superb emulation of ‘Ian Miller channelling Lovecraft'”.

Turns out, it’s actually by Ian Miller himself. His blog has the full cosmic vista…

Encyclopaedia Metallum reviews the album Anthronomicon, by the band Ulthar, and immediately finds…

“We’re off to battle right away against the Lovecraftian hordes!”

After that, it’s apparently much of the same old-school metal pace right through to the end. Delivered with all of the skill of a leading Californian metal band on their third album.

Turns out this is not the first cover Miller’s done for them. A little more digging discovers their two earlier albums with Miller covers…

The orange one reminding me instantly of the art for one of Miller’s classic 1970s paperback covers for Panther. Is this the picture that was lost and had to be recreated? Anyway, if you don’t fancy framing the album cover(s) then this one can be had as a fine art print direct from Miller.

In the Bookshops of Arkham, an eight-hour YouTube series of Call of Cthulhu ‘actual play’. Just in case you were curious about such RPG things.

And, as for props for such things, I found a nice 1904 card which might serve to aid in visualisation of settings. The shop on the right of the row being a possible book shop.

It’s a pity that city bookshops and galleries don’t (didn’t) get photographed, as 80 or so years later they’re of great interest due to their connections with famous writers and artists.

Polygon has a long industry-focussed article on Call of Cthulhu in the Far East, in nations such as Korea and Japan…

20% of Call of Cthulhu users play in a language other than English. That’s double the rate of other systems.

There’s also a thriving indie sub-culture…

You go to any game store [in Japan] that carries RPGs and there’s the Call of Cthulhu book, always in the top five weekly, monthly sales. No matter how many years have passed, it’s always there. And you turn to the right and there are three shelves of Cthulhu supplements written by people where not a single penny goes to them or Chaosium.”

In the latest Linn’s Stamp News, “The story behind author August Derleth’s ‘cinderella’ stamp”.

Wombo made me rather nice HPL stamp as-if from Carpathia in 1953…

Ooh, now I’m imagining a Lovecraftian sequel to the 1970s Philately board-game.

A nice paired look at Bruce Pennington’s Lovecraftian painting, as it graced two 1970s Panther paperbacks here in the UK.

A peep at what Lovecraft looked like to the Spanish in 1967. Their translation of Dreams in the Witch House and other stories. Apparently ideal weekend reading for your motor-car jaunt, according to the sticker.