New on ArtStation Marketplace, a new videogame-ready rigged Cthulhu for $300. ‘Rigged’ means he has a human-like skeleton setup and can thus be fully posed and animated. The look is a bit too squiddy and squid-ink blue, but that could be fixed.

Another quick survey of some new artwork on DeviantArt:

“Untitled” by jpgman (“The Whisperer in Darkness”).

“Plateau of Leng” by Joxonart.

“The Dunwich Horror” by Sweenoy.

“Newburyport Historical Society Process” by DaleMartinArt.

“Innsmouth Bus” by DaleMartinArt.

“Sound From The Deep” by Silviapalmeroni (“Erich Zann”).

“The Ruins” by bestiaexmachina (a modern take on “The Nameless City”).

“H.P. Lovecraft” by Pilvilinnassa. (Definitely tapping into the incipient pop-art revival)

“The Old One” by SaReeNaShiNNoK (visiting Prospect Terrace, Providence?)

Also three new “Great Old Ones” pictures by Pascal Blanche, over on ArtStation.

And finally, “Set phasers to fun!” It’s Star Trek vs. Cthulhu.

New to me, and perhaps to you. Timothy S. Miller’s fine and comprehensive “Timeline of Botanical Fictions”. Also covers fungal spores. Does not stray into modern high fantasy (e.g. Tolkien’s Ents) or flower-fairies and suchlike.

What we need now is a best-of-the-best collection, I’d suggest, which weeds out all the so-so jungle tales of giant fly-traps and poison pods, and the creakier pulp greenhouses-of-horror.

Deep Cuts takes a look at Enki Bilal’s first collection of mostly Lovecraft-inspired short comic strip stories, published in the magazine Pilote between 1971 and 1974.

Below I take an additional look at the various covers. First published as one volume in French as a five-story BD by Minoustchine in 1975…

Deep Cuts unearths a partial 1982 English U.S. translation by Flying Buffalo, publisher of the early RPG gaming magazine Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Not a great translation, it seems, and they were likely working from the 1975 Minoustchine edition as they have the same five stories and the same cover but with English lettering.

Then the volume appeared in a popular 1982 French BD by Futuropolis as Le Bol Maudit (“The Cursed Bowl”), with eight stories.

There was also a later reprint of the latter in 1987, with a garishly jazzed-up colour cover.

Manga master Gou Tanabe has revealed his next adaptation of Lovecraft into graphic novel form. The first episode of his “The Dunwich Horror” adaptation will run in Japanese in Kadokawa’s Monthly Comic Beam on 12th October 2021. This new Lovecraft adaptation, one of a growing number by Tanabe, will eventually enjoy an English translation in single-volume graphic novel form. It usually takes him about nine months to produce such a serial, so we might expect the English translation by Halloween 2022 at best. Or 2023 if there are publisher delays. Although these days there are Manga Translators for your browser, which work on automatic.

Lovecraft’s tale, which has a fairly good claim to be the most famous horror tale of the 20th century, needs no introduction here. “Cthulhu” has more name-recognition today, true. But only because the monster-name is in the title, and thus the clueless will nod when it’s mentioned, rather than because it’s widely read and enjoyed by many.

In French, the new 150-page designer/arts magazine SICK — les numeros Lovecraft, a Lovecraft special issue.

Also, in public on the site, what appears to be a sample article “Cassiodore souligne l’intemporalitt des textes de Lovecraft a travers l’art de la calligraphie”, which translates as something like ‘Lovecraft’s timeless texts and the art of the calligrapher’.

I recently interviewed Steele Filipek’s parter in 3D comics Andrew Buttigieg, for VisNews, and was pleased to learn that Steele has also just launched a Lovecraftian comic Arcane #1 (Sept 2021). It’s published and can be had in digital for a 20% discount on Gumroad. It should also be on Amazon soon in digital, although they’re closing down their Comixology store soon so I guess there may be a bit of delay there.

Arcane is a Young Adult take on Lovecraft, with very attractive artwork…

It’s finally here! First envisioned by ten-year-old me and set into motion four years ago, my ongoing, monthly series, Arcane, is finally here! If you like Lovecraftian horror, Saga of the Swamp Thing, and Young Adult media, check it out! Fourteen year-old Hogan Serrano accidentally touched the Oculus and gained the memories of the hundreds who bore that ancient artifact before him. Now, every wannabe cultist, esoteric magician, and maniac would kill for the secrets in Hogan’s brain to help them control reality… and beyond.