The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2265: Skull #6, 1972

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Yet more EC-inspired creepiness in today's issue. The story actually reminds me a lot of Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," albeit with a bit more sex and violence. It's a full-issue story, written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Greg Irons and Richard Corben. Mr. Veitch originally came to my attention as the writer of Animal Man after Peter Milligan's follow-up to Morrison's glorious run. His work on the title, incredibly ably assisted by Steve Dillon, is sadly amongst the more forgettable parts of the series. That said, it's been ages since I've read it, so perhaps it would read better now that I have some idea of where Mr. Veitch cut his teeth. I'd be ecstatic to see some underground influence in his tale of Buddy Baker returning to the life of a stunt man.

As for the story, the more I think about it, the more it really is Charles Dexter Ward's story. A warlock in the past figures out a way to inhabit his ancestor in the future in order to continue his arcane researches. Inbetween we have the unfortunate story of the woman who is impregnated by the warlock and who, at least on the surface, serves simply as a device to carry the story forward. There is a nice little twist at the end, however,  that redeems her somewhat.

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In the couple of months I've been away, I've continued reading for the project, making my way through my "A" publishers. I'll continue on with that tomorrow, having exhausted my new pile of undergrounds.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2262: Skull #5, 1972

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  When I picked this comic up, I had no idea that it was a collection of adaptations of Lovecraft's tales. Though I'm having a bit of a tough time with old HPL these days, given that his work is just brimming over with disgusting racism, but it's undeniable the influence he's had on writers and artists in the 100 or so years that his work has been in publication. And, in the fifty or so years since this comic was published, the ways we think about, and recognize, racism have become much more sophisticated.

That said, not many of the gross parts of Lovecraft's stories, ideologically speaking, show up in this comic. In fact, they're all pretty excellent adaptations, the Larry Todd "Shadow Out of the Abyss," an adaptation of "The Shadow Out of Time," is definitely the stand out. I've always liked that story. It also turns out that, potentially, the previous issue of this series is the first appearance of Cthulhu in a comic book. That basically immediately shoots it to the top of the hunt list. Always a good feeling.

For those, like myself, who may be wrestling with Lovecraft's racism, here's one way of doing it. I find such attitudes thoroughly repugnant, so when I read one of his stories, because it is undeniable that there is something brilliant and incredible about them, the layer of racism actually ads a level of horror for me. Rather than simply being scared or titillated by the actual events of the story, the added inflection of racism, when it becomes apparent, makes the stories even more horrifying. The excellent Internet critic hbomberguy does some cool stuff with Lovecraft, including talking about being queer and liking HPL's work. In the final analysis, he suggests also that it would thoroughly piss off the old racist to know that we're reading and talking about his work the way we are. And that's what racists deserve.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Links

Check out the rest of hbomberguy's stuff on YouTube.

Unsurprisingly, Lovecraft shows up quite a bit in my writing. Shocking, I know.