Fall of Cthulhu Vol. 1: The Fugue [Paperback]

Michael Nelson (Author), Jean Dzialowski (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2008

Collecting the opening arc of the new smash-hit series that is taking fandom by storm! Cy is an ordinary guy with a beautiful fiancee -- until his uncle's suicide changes his life forever. Consumed with discovering the motive behind his relative's sudden and painful death, he finds notes and scribblings about a nonsense word he doesn't recognize... Cthulhu. Obsessed, he seeks out answers to questions he should have never asked. A horrifying glimpse into a modern day Lovecraftian world filled with nightmares and excursions into Lovecraft's Dreamlands!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Combining the first five issues of the comic-book series, this book tells of how an ordinary guy descends into madness. The story opens with Cy's beloved Uncle Walt committing suicide in an open-air café, in front of Cy; his girlfriend, Jordan; and a wealth of other people. Cy, who was raised by Walt, decides he must find out the motivation behind his uncle's desperate act and what he meant when he told Cy to stop him. So, despite Jordan's pleadings to the contrary, Cy searches through his uncle's belongings left behind in a single room in a Norman Bates-esque boardinghouse. He uncovers strange rituals, a peculiar language with not enough vowels, and an alternate world known as the Dreamlands. There, Cy encounters a creature known as the whore, who promises to unveil the secrets of Walt's obsession with the cult of Cthulhu, if Cy will give his eternity to her. The tale continues in a swirl of blood, frightening creatures, and unsettling rituals. Both the story and the style of the color artwork will remind readers of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series (Vertigo), but teens used to mainstream comics and manga series will be disappointed by the rough edges of the art. Fall will appeal most to those who enjoy dark comics.–Sarah Krygier, Solano County Library, Fairfield, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* H. P. Lovecraft opened a gold mine with his tales of evil space aliens who came to Earth eons before humanity evolved, somehow got buried by all the tectonic shifting, but are ready to come back big time, which won’t be pretty. Plenty of sf and horror scribes have added to the Cthulhu Mythos, as Lovecraft’s confection and its extensions by others are collectively called, though not with much distinction in the comics medium. Until now. Nelson’s story concerns the beginnings of an Elder Gods comeback on the campus of Miskatonic University (which Lovecraft created), in which grad student Cy Morgan becomes involved after his anthropologist uncle’s very public suicide—and silent reappearance late that day to lead Cy into a hellish, surrealistic parallel world, the Dreamlands. Dzialowski’s ingeniously varied art clearly distinguishes this world, rendered with plenty of painterly effects, and the Dreamlands, drawn and colored in more conventional, outline-and-fill-in comics style. Dzialowski imagines plenty of ghastly nonhuman characters, and he sustains an enormously menacing aura by never fixing the looks of the human characters, especially Cy; they’re the specters, it seems, while the monsters are substantial. Nelson leaves Cy about as down as a continuing story’s apparent hero could be, which mercilessly ratchets up curiosity about where Fall of Cthulhu’s second story arc will go. --Ray Olson

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: BOOM! Studios; Original edition (March 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934506192
• ISBN-13: 978-1934506196
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #937,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Alan Nelson was born in Portage, Indiana and grew up in a small farming community before moving to Los Angeles in 2002. He is the winner of the 2004 New Times 55 Fiction contest for his short-short "The Conspirators" and was awarded the 2011 Glyph Comics Award for Best Female Character for the character Selena from his series "28 Days Later." Michael is the author of the critically acclaimed comic series "Hexed," "Dingo," and "Fall of Cthulhu." He lives in Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant success for Boom Studios, May 14, 2008

By 

Matthew T. Carpenter (Peoria, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fall of Cthulhu Vol. 1: The Fugue (Paperback)

The Fugue comprises the first 5 issues of Fall of Cthulhu now brought together in a graphic novel. I think it is a smashing success and will give most Chtulhu mythos fans as much reading enjoyment as it gave me. I read them as they came out in comic book form but now you don't have to squirm with imaptience between issues!

Fall of Cthulhu #0, Boom Studios, March 2007 - written by Michael Alan Nelson, , art by Jean Dzialowski, colors by Imaginary Friends Studio - In this introductory book to the best Lovecraftian comic book series ever, we are first treated to a vision of R'lyeh rising. Then we see the final (?) days of Abdul Alhazrad in Damascus 731 AD, as he is swallowed up by some nightmarish demon. He is taken through the Dreamlands (rendered here with much more vivid and surreal panels than our world) to the Nameless City where he is taken to task for the writing of Al Azif. His body is taken by a party unknown to a destination unknown. We then fast forward to the present day when Mr. Arkham and his assistant Conner retrieve the body from a swamp. Alhazrad must be revived to write a new chapter of Al Azif. Wonderful stuff here! I was hooked from the first panel.

Fall of Cthulhu #1, Boom Studios, Apr 2007 - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Jean Dzialowski, colors by Imaginary Friends Studio, cover A Tyler Walpole, cover B Vatchie Malian - The story begins with Cy Morgan having lunch with his fiancé Jordan at some outdoor café in Arkham. They are interrupted by a bag being thrown onto their table, as it happens by Cy's uncle Walter McKinley who looks much the worse for wear. He proceeds to blow his brains out all over the table. Cy is given that bag by the police, almost as an after thought. Uncle Walt had been doing research in Brazil but returned 2 months early for some reason. The bag contains research materials (a draft of a thesis about `The Call') and a rather eldritch looking knife that doesn't seem to want to stay put away. Cy can't get hold of his sister Sarah to tell her, and Uncle Walt's apartment is empty. Later that night, in a dream Cy is confronted by his uncle, and ends up following him into the Dreamlands. There he meets an grotesque entity known as the Harlot, a giver and keeper of secrets, from whom he tries to find out more about his Uncle Walt. It turns out Walt was staying at Mr. Arkham's boarding house, and keeping a very bizarre idol in a closet. After you read this comic you will not be able to pass up any of the rest that follow, it is that good. It is much more entertaining than most of the mythos short stories I read.

Fall of Cthulhu #2, Boom Studios,May 2007, - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Jean Dzialowski, colors by Imaginary Friends Studio, cover A Tyler Walpole, cover B Vatchie Malian - Jordan and Cy have a small argument after Walt's funeral, particularly after Cy apparently keeps forgetting to put away the knife. The idol had the word Cthulhu written on the base, which it turns out was the password to Walt's thumbdrive. The drive contained images of a book in Arabic, which Cy will now attempt to have translated by a friend, Brad Fagen. When Walt goes back to the boarding house, he finds the priest from the funeral in front of the idol, naked and tattooed and cutting himself to pieces. Apparently Mr. Arkham is up to something, as he seems to have staged all this for Cy's benefit. Reality is now seriously starting to fray, as Cy didn't put the knife away again, so he has a fight with Jordan, and when he goes to see his friend Brad who was translating the Arabic writing he has been maimed in a most horrible way. While there is something weird going on outside the hospital, Cy and Jordan's apartment was ransacked. That night, Cy ends up back in the Dreamlands where he sees a great hunter from a distance. The Harlot tells him it is Nodens, and offers to explains about the Call of Cthulhu...but all secrets have their price. Another corking good read with a compelling story, excellent mythos sensibilities and terrific art.

Fall of Cthulhu #3, Boom Studios, Jun 2007, - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Jean Dzialowski, colors by Imaginary Friends Studio, cover B Tyler Walpole, cover A Vatchie Malian - The police are investigating the apartment break in and are suspicious of Cy. Unfortunately he and Jordan are fighting over his pursuing his uncle's affairs...plus he keeps forgetting to put away that knife. Not knowing what to do Cy stops for a chat with the reassuring Mr. Arkham. On the way home he discovers to his dismay that the priest from the funeral apparently was not a priest at all. Jordan threatens to leave Cy. Getting to end of his tether Cy slips into the Dreamlands again. There he offers a piece of himself to the Harlot to try to make some sense of what's been happening. She gives him a rather cryptic answer. When he awakens Cy is witness to a gruesome hunt, and hears some things about Cthulhu and Nodens. Unfortunately the hunters hear him snap a twig right at the end of the book...I see nothing not to like in this episode. The story is great, carefully plotted with vivid execution.

Fall of Cthulhu #4, Boom Studios, Jul 2007, - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Jean Dzialowski, colors by Imaginary Friends Studio, cover B Tyler Walpole, cover A Vatchie Malian - This issue starts out at 90 miles per hr as Cy is caught up as the prey in a hunt he doesn't understand (and in this series it is pretty easy to figure out who is being honored by this hunt). He is dragged kicking and screaming back into the Dreamlands by some nightgaunts, but is rescued after a fashion by the Harlot. Because of this she/it has a confrontation with Nodens (the writers/artists made a choice to depict Nodens almost like a classical Greek god, not exactly what I imagine but we'll see where they go with it). Cy ends back in our own world after a rather cryptic conversation, and tries to go the police station to report a crime. Of course, all evidence is gone and now the police don't like him. Cy visits his maimed friend, Brad Fagen, in the hospital. After that he goes back to Mr. Arkham's boarding house; Cy is really starting to lose it. He decides to walk away from the whole thing to stay with Jordan, and tells as much to Mr. Arkham. Unfortunately, Jordan is not in the best frame of mind, and Cy really should have put away that knife... This issue was a worthy addition to the story arc. I really can't imagine any mythos fan not being captivated by this book.

Fall of Cthulhu #5, Boom Studios, Aug 2007 - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Jean Dzialowski, colors by Imaginary Friends Studio, cover B Tyler Walpole, cover A Vatchie Malian, and for the first time Andrew Ritchie is credited with the Dreamlands sequences (maybe he did them for all the issues to date?) - Cy is drowning his sorrows in a bar when Mr. Arkham and Connor catch up with him. Surprise, surprise, Mr. Arkham and Connor really want the knife and Mr. Arkham is not quite as genteel as we've been lead to believe. When he wakes up Cy decides to get his gun and confront Mr. Arkham, trying to find some answers. Mr. Arkham reveals his true identity******************spoiler alert**********************************************************************************************************

...it's Nyarlathotep, in case you hadn't figured it out. Nyarlathotep reveals its/his scheme to Cy as he is dragged into a room with resurrected corpse of Abdul Alhazrad, who needs human blood to write his latest prophecy. They are trying to call Cthulhu, to wake it, so it may be hunted by Nodens. Cy finds himself back in his uncle's old room with the idol, and discovers the unexpected fate of his missing sister. Cy ends up catatonic to the real world but finally achieves a measure of enlightenment and peace in the Dreamlands. We find out something Nyarlathotep does not know, and then we have a perfect denouement to the first 5 issues of Fall of Cthulhu.

As you may have guessed, I am a big fan! I read a lot of Lovecraftian fiction and can be harsh critic. I found nothing not to like; you are in for a real treat if you pick this up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!, May 12, 2008

By 

Guy E. Finley "Tuesdays Dusk" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fall of Cthulhu Vol. 1: The Fugue (Paperback)

Anyone who knows me knows that I read comics. Alot of comics. I'll pick up two or three books a week. But this one, Fall of Cthulhu, is the one of the ones I get most excited about every month.

Although Michael Alan Nelson has added much of his own the Cthulhu Mythos, its barely noticeable, it fits in so well. The little references and such to various Lovecraft stories are everywhere. And the art, especially when it switches styles for the Dreamlands sequences, is astounding and creepy.

This is also a great place to start if you are just getting into Lovecraft.

I highly recommend this book to every fan of Lovecrat, horror comics, and all those in between.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting take on Lovecraft, March 21, 2008

By 

John Oconnor "Wrong Reverend Pope John the Me... (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fall of Cthulhu Vol. 1: The Fugue (Paperback)

I understand that this book combines the first 5 comics of the Fall of Cthulhu series. I have to admit that, while it's not typical Lovecraft, it is really very good. I don't recall a harlot in Dreamland, but hey, why not? Lovecraft himself says that Cthulhu is but a cousin of the Great Old Ones, therefore some of the others must be even more powerful. That's the main premise of this very creative story. It is well drawn, also. In my humble opinion, this story is well worth the money for the book. I enjoyed reading it.