| Title | : | LovecraftAntologia vol. 2 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 8877596163 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9788877596161 |
| Language | : | Italian |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 128 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2012 |
Praise for The Lovecraft Anthology: Volume I:
"When a graphic novel comes along representing some of Lovecraft’s greatest tales, it has a lot to live up to. I’m happy to say that the graphic novel compilation The Lovecraft Anthology, Vol. 1 provides the goods." —GeekDad.com
LovecraftAntologia vol. 2 Reviews
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But of course you cannot read the first volume without the second one as honestly the same creativity and imagination that brought the first book has spilled over in this volume too (or is that two).
To be honest I think you could apply this to any of Lovecrafts stories or even though of his fellow writers who shared in the mythos - in fact I can think of a number of stories already which I would love to have seen put to this format - I can hope.
What I would say is that since they are all different (styles, formats and stories - obviously) the books could carry on as even though some of the stories have been done to death (and beyond) in anthology format this breaths new life in to them.
I think the works and words of Lovecraft have crept in to almost every corner of modern literature, from references, to forbidden books and creatures to places names and even styles of telling stories. I am honestly surprised these books have not been written a long time ago - and like their origins I think they will stand the test of time. -
This second volume concentrates on some “lesser-acclaimed” works of Lovecraft, and—although doing so is a noble effort—I believe the volume suffers as a result. But, though this volume is not quite as good as its predecessor, it still offers delights to the fan of H.P. Lovecraft who appreciates graphic narrative art.
My favorites here are “Pickman’s Model,” “The Hound,” “The Nameless City,” “The Picture in the House,” and “Festival.” Artist Steven Pugh creates for “Pickman’s model an early 20th century atmosphere—not far removed from the aesthetic movement of the ‘90’s—and this atmosphere adds much to what is already a superb tale. Lovecraft wrote “The Hound” as a parody of sensationalistic horror, and artist Bryan Bough uses a “Tales from the Crypt” approaches early “Mad Magazine” style that strikes exactly the right balance between chills and laughter. The other three tales may be slight in themselves, but the dream-like imagery of Attila Futaki’s “Nameless City,” the black and white world of Mick McMahon’s “The Picture in the House,” and the Hawthorneian gothic feel of Matt Tinson’s “The Festival” linger in the memory.
If you only read one of this series of two, get the first volume instead. But each of the tales here, including the four I did not mention (“The Temple,” “From Beyond, “He,” and “The Statement of Randolph Carter) gives pleasure to the reader, and I am glad that I gave this second volume a try. -
The artwork was not quite as good as its predecessor, but never-the-less great!
I gave The Lovecraft Anthology: Volume 1 four stars. I wish I could give Volume 2 three and a-half stars... but I can't.
...so... four stars it is! -
This is only a 4⭐️ review as I think I prefer my lovecraft purely in the written form so that my imagination can run riot without the need of illustrations. But what amazing illustrations they are! Each different illustrator puts their own unique twist on the lovecraft style, and it was so interesting to view them this way. For a library find, I'm very invested and need to get my hands on the first instalment ❤️
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This one adapts some of the less-acclaimed of Lovecraft's works, but I think it pulls them off better on the whole than the first one did. He, The Hound, The Nameless City, and The Festival are all as well portrayed here as the stories themselves would allow. The rest of the stories managed not quite so well.
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Note: This is a review for both the
Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 1 and the Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 2.
In these anthologies, various comic writers and artists adapt a few dozen of H.P. Lovecraft’s most famous tales to a graphic format, to me, mostly ineffectually. While a few feature intriguing art styles, most cannot approach the atmosphere or creepiness of the original stories filtered through the reader’s own imagination and thus feel rushed and fragmented.
Due to the verbose nature and detached style of Lovecraft’s writing, I feel that it is extremely difficult to adapt his work into a visual format, one that really succeeds as an adaption, and I have yet to see a truly satisfying comic interpretation of a Lovecraft story. Relying on slowly building atmosphere and describing “indescribable” horrors, his tales do not lend themselves to be rendered in images aside from one’s own imagination. It may be part of the limited space the editors and artists had to work with, but many feel slightly trite, with little of the eerie feelings cultivated through Lovecraft’s wordcraft.
The most successful were, I feel, were "Dagon," adapted by Dan Lockwood and illustrated by Alice Duke in Volume One, and "Pickman's Model," adapted by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Steve Pugh in Volume Two. Each of these used evocative art with an understated, close interpretation of the original stories to make them effective takes on the tales. Both of these stories are quite short, however. -
A wonderful Sunday Morning to you all!Here at the Little book cove, I'm having a very chilled morning. I had a choice, Would I like to go for a meal and late night drinks last night, or chill with a book, what do you think I Chose lol! Last night I finished the second instalment of this.I have to say it's not as good as the first one, the Storyline and plot were a bit off at times But The artwork I cannot fault at all, especially “Steve Pugh's” In fact All the artists and colourists are fantastic in this book. In this Collection of graphic “H.P Love Crafts” short tales. There were story's I haven't yet got to read so there adaptation was really epic. "Pickman's Model" was a lot Like Dorian Gray in many aspects. “The Temple” left me with a strange eerie feeling. As well as “The nameless City.” I was rather sad that I’ve come to the end if these, but I'm going to keep an eye out for more of these kind of book's as There quite addictive! And make a wonderful addition to the collection for any H.P Lovecraft fan's Collection.
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Lesser known stories, make for an interesting read. Loved to style and the shortness of the stories overall more then the first volume. Also the art is better, or more detailed, on average then the first volume.
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Well, I feel Harris' review further down this page sums up my thoughts pretty nicely, so I won't add much more, except to say there's three very good adaptations in this volume, and two of those have beautiful appropriately atmospheric art: Pickman's Model and From Beyond. The third, The Hound, has good art, too, just not as fine as the first two.
I thought Vol. 1 only had three good adaptations itself; The Call of Cthulhu, The Colour Out of Space, and The Rats in the Walls (Dagon was good, too, beautifully illustrated, but completely forgettable). The rest were lacking suspense or dread, and some are too "cartoonish" (wrong term, really, but I can't think of a better one; the art isn't either realistic or stylized enough, but amateurish, soft, or silly) to have the requisite claustrophobic doom, futility-in-the-face-of-the-gibbering-horrors-around-us, or even simple dread that Lovecraftian adaptations ought to capture. If the three stories I liked from each volume were collected in one, I'd give that book 3.5/4 stars! -
Going into this, I thought I was going to enjoy the stories much more than the actual art, which is usually the case when I read graphic novels. Unfortunately, the Lovecraft tales were rather thin, somewhat repetitive, and--similar to my ongoing pet peeve with much of Philip K. Dick's work--sorely lacking a decent ending. The imagination behind the scenarios is great, but the abrupt non-endings to many of these seem tossed off at best, lazy at worst. Perhaps all of H.P.'s best stories were gathered in the first volume (which I haven't read), so I'd recommend that anyone check that one out before this one just in case. The art, though: great stuff for the most part (since there were different artists for each story, that's not the case across the board, but overall it's very solid), and I loved the little easter eggs in some of the imagery (of which there are probably far more than I noticed, since I'm not incredibly well versed in the Cthulu mythos). Two stars for stories + four stars for art ÷ 2 = three stars.
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Not as good as the first volume but still very enjoyable. You can read my review of the first volume here (
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). Once again we have a collection of illustrated Lovecraft short stories that all have similar themes (unexplored worlds, nightmarish visions, people going mad, creatures from beyond, etc). I got to point out that I am not a biggest fan of stories that start off on a strange note (don't have explanations on how characters got there) and end in a way that does not give us a conclusion or explanation of what went on. Some of the stories in this volume were like that. Basically they started off good but ended in a way that told me almost nothing on what happened and how did the visions or creatures they saw came to be.
Lovecraft is big on having characters go mad by experiencing something unusual or weird. His stories are described in rich detail but a lot of them are very similar. This volume once again has illustrations by different people and their own way of approaching the story and illustrating it is what made me buy the actual book. I REALLY enjoyed "The Hound" and "The Picture in the House." The others, while short and had left out a lot of things, were also fun to read. -
The nameless city was the best short story in this collection...
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My thoughts were mostly the same as with volume 1 on this one so I'll just note that this volume includes Pickman’s Model, The Temple, From Beyond, He, The Hound, The Nameless City, The Picture in the House, The Festival and The Statement of Randolph Carter.
Full series review
here -
Igual que la anterior, EL Festival es la historia mas corta y la que mejor salio parada en la adaptación.
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Fairly similar in style and presentation to the first collection. The art is ok (though I was a little irritated with the portrayal of the WWI U-boat as spacious). No doubt a lot of the eeriness of the short stories is lost in the retelling. I'm not the biggest fan of Lovecraft or weird horror, but I am glad to have at least gotten a taste of these stories.
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Herein follows my in-depth analysis of Lovecraft, this Anthology and the art in this book.
Guess I'm pretty much done with Lovecraft. We just don't seem to see eye to eye on anything. I also blame the editor of this Anthology - did he only pick crappy works for this? All of the pieces seemed to have the same kind of a plot: A guy goes somewhere (usually descents down below earth) and sees another world and either dies or goes mad or whatefs. Bo-ring!
Also! Just a note on the art work: They pretty much sucked. Only a few were either good or decent.
I liked the first story, Pickman's Model, for both the graphics and the story. It seemed well drawn and the main character was nicely mad.
Temple was only okay, the art wasn't to my taste but oddly it fit the story.
From Beyond was a yawn and I already started to see the Lovecraft repetition in plots in this one.
The story He was like a repetition of From Beyond and the Hound was ridiculous :D I can't but wonder if Lovecraft wrote this as a joke? Or is it just portrayed like that in this Anthology? To me it just was way too silly and simple.
I loved the artwork of The Nameless City but didn't care for the story.
The Picture in the House ended well, so it was one of the good ones.
The Festival and The Statement of Randolph Carter weren't for me.
If I'll happen upon Volume one once I'll probably pick it up just to see if there is indeed a difference in the storylines. But, yeah, don't hold your breath. -
Se o primeiro volume desta antologia de Lovecraft adaptado aos comics já surpreendeu pela qualidade, este não lhe fica atrás. Diga-se de passagem que é um tema complicado. Os contos de Lovecraft são bem conhecidos e as adaptações a banda desenhada já vêem de longa data. O que de novo nos pode trazer uma iniciativa destas?
A adaptação dos contos é cuidada, conseguindo o quase impossível equilíbrio entre a prosa prolífica de Lovecraft e um meio de expressão que vive de uma bem medida proporção entre texto e imagem. É no estilo ilustrativo que a obra se distingue. Não há um estilo comum a todos os contos. Cada ilustrador traz consigo a sua visão, espelhada em iconografias diversas ao longo das páginas deste livro. Esse carácter de interpretação individual é a mais valia que esta série traz ao panorama de obras que giram à volta deste autor de culto.
É-me impossível destacar qual a melhor das adaptações. Cada qual tem o seu estilo individual numa colectânea que vai do realismo com toques degenerados a estilizações abstraccionistas ou surreais. Para os conhecedores do género de terror no mundo dos comics há um genial piscar de olhos no grafismo de Bryan Baugh ao estilo clássico de Creepy ou Eerie na adaptação do conto The Hound. -
*See my review on the 1st Anthology, which sums up my views on both.*
For the second Anthology, I really like the stories, "Pickman's Model," and "The Nameless City," in terms of both art and prose. The second story features one of my least favourite art styles, in the vein of Hellboy, and the story is silly and corny (featuring a fanatical, inexplicably insane German in WWI who really fits more as a hardcorre Nazi in WWII) until the very end, when both art and story satisfy. The rest of the stories are so-so and forgettable, though the 2nd last story, "The Festival" has very interesting artwork, while the last story, "The Statement of Randolph Carter" has thematically inappropriate artwork bordering on silly. "The Hound" was a disappointment. I love the idea of scary or creepy dog stories, but they usually suck, with Stephen King's
Gerald's Game containing a notable exception. -
Volume 2 of
The Lovecraft Anthology was far superior to the first.
The artistry of the comics themselves reminded me of the work of Dave McKean and the stories that were chosen were of a decidedly more obscure bend. Choosing tales such as The Rats in the Walls was rather inspired, as so much of it could be conveyed through the art rather than the script. The story, actually, appealed to me in comic form when I've never been a fan of it in general.
This is a good introduction to H.P. Lovecraft and his non-Cthulhu mythos stories. It elicits the cosmic dread while also showing that Lovecraft is capable of stories of a more fantastical bend (i.e. The Colour Out of Space) and the comics were both easy to read and fun to look at. Once more, it is a pleasure to see the more visual aspects of Lovecrafts works being played with in a way that isn't... movies of questionable worth.
Would highly recommend. -
Every bit as good as the first volume, and a personal highlight for me is the inclusion of artwork from Mick McMahon (of Judge Dredd fame), whose immediately recognizable graphic art is too rarely seen in North American publications. That said, the best visual interpretation in this volume has to be Warwick Johnson Cadwell's take on "The Statement of Randolph Carter", which wonderfully captures the cartoony creepiness of Lovecraft's short story.
As with the first volume, the adaptors trim the narratives to fit Into this short anthology format, but more often than not this editing is an advantage, since Lovecraft's original prose is often unnecessarily wordy. A very decent collection overall. -
Well, I liked this volume much more then the first volume. Mainly due to the more realistic artwork. Steve Pugh's work on "Pickman's Model" was incredible and I even thought that the noir look of Adrian Salmon's work on "The Temple" was amazing and claustrophobic with it's colors and angular people representations. I did not think that Warwick Johnson Cadwell's art worked at all on "The Statement of Randolph Carter". Way too cartoony for a story that is suppose to be scary. Matt Timson's work on "The Festival" was creepy and set the mood perfectly.
But any Lovecraft is better then no Lovecraft and the book was a really good read overall. -
In this volume the reader gets introduced to some of the best non Cthulhu Mythos stories. The best one (especially artistically) was The Festival. A good collection in general but I still prefer Volume 1.
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Este sí que es redondo. Todos los artistas que participan son muy buenos y por supuesto los relatos de Lovecraft no tienen desperdicio.
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Macabre tales from another realm. Not to be read directly before bed!
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This follow up anthology to the first volume of the same name, by the same editor, is an improvement, even though the stories chosen for adaptations are of even lesser known and lesser lauded work of Lovecraft than the first.
The art is much improved over the first volume. About half are painterly styles of illustration in dark tones, panels drawn at dramatic angles, in ways very appropriate to the themes and feeling of the original work. Some of the pages are truly beautifully done. The more stylistic pieces are also more interesting and skillfully drawn than the pieces in the first volume.
Though this second volume does do better at maximizing the storytelling potential of illustration, many of the pieces in this collection still contain altogether too much of the original text, frequently creating redundant pairings of illustration with captions that portray the exact same thing. I understand the temptation the adapters likely felt to include these captions. Lovecraft's prose is eery and brilliant. However, by using so much, and leaning on it so heavily while frequently doing nothing to add to or harmonize with it, this reader does not find himself convinced that this adaptation justifies its existence.
These stories work well as short stories in their original form. I do not find these adaptations to be any kind of improvement nor enhancement of the original. On the contrary, they convolute the impact of the original stories.
The best of the collection is the penultimate piece, a longer story in this collection and a painterly work called The Festival, adapted by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Matt Timson. It's dark, eery, beautiful, effective, and very faithful to the source.
Despite this cold review, I still give this book three stars. The work is beautifully done. The source material is good and is mostly still able to be discerned, though muddled.
A hardcore Lovecraft reader might find this book an interesting diversion. To most I would instead recommend Neonomicon by Alan Moore, a Lovecraftian graphic novel that is more faithful to Lovecraft lore and atmosphere than this book, and far more effective at influencing the reader. -
Why are there only two of these? I need more, I need every goddamn one of Lovecraft's books turned into comic book format.
The remainder of today shall be spent in the quest of finding more.
Another beautifully put together work, fabulous selection of stories (including The Hound, my fave, yay!) and all with perfectly matching art work, my personal favorite here was From Beyond, gotta love a depiction of Ultra Violet and this was what I imagine cosmic horror to actually look like.
Bloody fucking wonderful.
More please. -
Some art is really good but the scripts are boring as hell.
Always with a narrator, always in Lovecraft's style, it is not adapting but paraphrasing Lovecraft in worse. The original author's style is great for is original medium but it is awfull for comics.
It seems the writers and the editor never trust the artists to convey the mood of the stories and, so, we have miles of unuseful texts. -
Another decent set of stories here - a good pick of stories to portray. Again though, similar to volume 1, the enforced brevity does take away from the strength of some of the stories, and in this volume some of the art just didn't quite feel like it captured the nature of the stories well either. Still though, and enjoyable and reasonably quick read.
