Customer Reviews

Graphic Classics: H. P. Lovecraft Volume 4 2002 (Graphic Classics)

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HP Lovecraft is an author that has faced many, many terrible adaptations. His stories seem to work best the way they were originally intended, as prose stories, with his vocabulary and writing style painting a picture no visual can match. Nothing else quite captures that unique flavor.

However, Graphics Classics, with these illustrated adaptations, seems to have scooped up generous portions of the Lovecraft feeling, enough to make "Graphic Classics: H. P. Lovecraft" one of the few gems. All of the illustrators involved have their own flair, and most work surprisingly well with the source material. This is the updated second edition, and contains over 75 pages of new material. They definitely kept the best stories, cut out some of the ones that didn't work so well, and have created a must-have for Lovecraft fans.

Included are:

A Memory - An illustrated poem, sliced from A Fungi from Yuggoth. A beautiful introduction to what you are about to experience.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth - One of Lovecraft's greatest yarns, a tale of buried and cursed genealogy. It is artfully adapted by Simon Crane, who captures just right that "Innsmouth look".

Dreams in the Witch-House - Old Keziah Mason and Brown Jenkin won't let something like death and a couple of centuries stop them from completing the geometric rites demanded by Nyarlathotep. Artist Rich Rainey adds just the right claustrophobic fear to this tense tale.

Sweet Ermengarde - This one I had never actually heard of before! A comedy of eight acts depicting the faithlessness of a woman's heart. No tentacles or monsters, and almost more Mark Twain than Lovecraft, but a fun read. Adapted by Rob Lott and Kevin Atkinson, who pump on the comedy on this rare gem.

Herbert West: Reanimator - A round-robin style piece that has several artists taking a few pages of the story. A bit disappointing, because styles are too drastically different. Would have been much better if Richard Corben had done the complete story, rather than only the first few pages, but that is just because I like him so much. All of the artists represent well.

The Cats of Ulthar - Exactly what it should be like. Artist Lisa Weber's unique style works perfectly with this fanciful tale of feline furry.

The Terrible Old Man - A great bit, with perfect art. Onsmith Jeremi makes a creepy tale even creepier, with his cartoonesque depiction of those yellow eyes.

The Shadow Out of Time - Another creative adaptation. I am surprised that Matt Howarth managed to compress this novelette into 22 pages without losing anything important. I really wouldn't have thought this was possible until I read it!

I think the previous reviewer has covered the material fairly well. So I will mention mostly points of divergence.

"Herbert West: Reanimator" - I thought having each section illustrated by a different artist captured the essence of the serialization of the novel. To my mind, it was always rather jarring to have each section of the story reintroduce the previous events; having a different artistic style with each installment acknowledge this.

"The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" - it should be pointed out that these are only excerpts. It would otherwise be a much longer novel, but still it should be said.

"The Outsider" - I happened to enjoy this. It is Gothic horror without the Cthulhu-squishiness. I always enjoy a little something different.

"The Cats of Ulthar" - Here I agree with the reviewer; set in HPL's Dreamlands, the illustrations are very dreamlike - somewhat caricatured and abstract, with flowing outlines carrying a hint of menace.

"Fungi from Yuggoth" - I don't have "fungi" in any of my collections, so i was just glad to have it here.

A good graphic form for Lovecraft, except for the miserable story of Lovecraft's life. I wish they had chosen some of the more powerful Lovecraft, like Dunwich Horror or Call of Cthulhu, instead of the stories they did choose. All in all, a decent comic, but not as good as it could be.