Ever since I've been reading Lovecraftian fiction there have been authors who have used HPL as a character in their stories, often as someone who knew the awful truth and wrote it disguised as fiction to warn the world. I bet a complete listing of such stories would comprise quite a bibliography in its own right. For the life of me I cannot figure out the appeal; it spoils the world building. Whenever I see this plot device I am immediately predisposed to be annoyed (with the caveat that I have not read probably the most ambitious of the books, The Lovecraft Chronicles by Peter Cannon). Lately it has been an especially prominent trend in Lovecraftian comics. Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom showed similar weird adventures for HPL as a child; for me it was not a success partly due to unattractive art. Lovecraft by Hans Rodionoff had good monsters and a good story but, again, I was not happy with the depictions of HPL. HPL even made an important appearance in Atomic Robo and the Shadow from Beyond Time. This last book was quite fun.

Maybe I've been beaten into submission but dang it, The Strange Adventures of HP Lovecraft is a hugely entertaining graphic novel. I was hooked beginning to end. These individual comics were originally released by Image Comics in 2008. I am very glad for the compilation as I completely missed them in the original run; it's pretty easy to miss an important Lovecraftian book or comic these days, what with the pace of publication and so many companies getting on the Cthulhu bandwagon. The creative team included story by Mac Carter, pencils and ink by Tony Salmons, colors by Adam Byrne and flats by Keaton Kohl. Mac Carter worked on the award winning documentary Spellbound and a movie about DC Comics; I am not aware of anything specifically Lovecraftian he has done otherwise. Thhis book lists for $16.99 but can be had at Amazon for a nicely discounted $12.23. Page count is a generous 184, and includes a cover gallery, always appreciated in a graphic novel.

Minor spoilers may follow so skip if it bothers you.......

After a prologue that details the fate of Abdul Alhazred in wonderfully gory fashion we skip ahead to the 1920s. HPL is living in Providence with his aunts, worrying about his mother in Butler Hospital and trying to overcome his writer's block. He pines fruitlessly away for a childhood flame, Sylvia St.Claire (this book is peopled with real figures from HPL's life and some who are entirely fictional). She works in the John Carter Brown LIbrary. As he rushes to a missed appointment with her, HPL passes a new display, an ancient tome just acquired by the university. The book seems to communicate with him. Nothing in Howard's life remains mundane after that. The walls of dream and reality begin to warp; the world becomes much more dangerous for those wh have been making life difficult for him. The police begin to suspect HPL in a series of grisly events and as his understanding grows, he desperately seeks a way to protect Sylvia.

I really liked this book. The story was tautly written with a propulsive plot, good dialogue and lively characters, including the bit parts. Tony Salmons made the story come alive on the page with excellnt action drawings. His otherly dimensional beings were quite good, particularly his shoggoths, but I give special kudons to his drawings of HPL, his aunts and his mother. The ending was spot on excellent for this kind of story. I breathlessly finished it in an hour or so and then did a much more leisurely re-read, enjoying it more the second time. I can't imagine a fan of Lovecraft and comics would not enjoy The Strange Adventures of HP Lovecraft. I only hope the creative team will give us more stories, either further adventures of HPL, or maybe some straight up Cthulhu mythos books. ( )