Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness

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Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness
By Hervé St-Louis
July 7, 2014 - 21:50

Arcana Studios
Writer(s): Bruce Brown
Penciller(s): Thomas Boatwright
Colourist(s): Thomas Boatwright
Letterer(s): E.T. Dollman
ISBN: 978-1771352000

Howard Lovecraft is a young boy whose father reels while an other world force possesses him. Traveling to meet Doctor Herbert West in Antarctica, Howard, his father, Constable Smith, and his pet creature Spot fall into a bigger trap. Antarctica is where the spirit possessing his father wants to escape to release a larger threat on humanity. Will Howard and his cohort save the day?

I reminded me of Up but with a Lovecraftian occult shade. It’s a graphic novel that set in three chapters that move fast. The fast pace never stops and new threats and twists happening every page. What’s fun is that a lot of is not explained about the characters’ history. Still, it’s easy to rebuild fill in the gaps. We know that Howard’s family has been dabbling with the occult for several generations. One older family member may have become a monster. This series is for kids but some parts may still spook them. Some characters suffer dismemberment.

The best part of Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness is the wonderful art by Thomas Boatwright. Boatwright’s work feels like he’s an animator. There is a sequence where Howard’s plane lands in Antarctica where I could feel the motion of the crashing jet in the cold plain. Some of Boatwright’s brushstrokes are a mess though and it can be difficult to read the information in some panels. Boatwright is a wonderful storyteller One can read his energy signature in sequences of frames easily.
Rating: 7/10