‘At The Mountains of Madness’: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Last time, I took a look at The Lovecraft Anthology, edited by Dan Lockwood. This time around, I'm looking at another graphic novel based on a Lovecraft book: At The Mountains of Madness, adapted and illustrated by I.N.J. Culbard (Deadbeats, The New Deadwardians). 

Published by Sterling, this volume adapts Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness in a classic style reminiscent of Hergé's Tintin. In the story, Professor Dyer leads an expedition to Antarctica in September of 1930. With a biologist, engineer, physicist and meteorologist, and a geologist on board, their mission is to take core ...

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The Old Ones Were, the Old Ones Are, and the Old Ones Shall Be: The Lovecraft Anthology

When I was looking for comic book anthologies recently, I found the Robert E. Howard book, the Fairy Tale book and a third, darker tome: The Lovercraft Anthology: Volume 1. Edited by Dan Lockwood, this volume transforms seven of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories into strikingly creepy and beautiful comics that touch the surface of what Lovecraft built.

You can't be a speculative fiction fan without coming into contact with something inspired by Lovecraft. From the Dungeon Dimensions of Pratchett's Discworld series, to Ridley Scott's Aliens, to Mike Mignola's Hellboy, pop culture is full of ...

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Higher Earth: Space is Dead

Diverging a bit from my usual fare, I wanted to take a look today at a book that feels very much like an epic space opera in the vein of something written by Iain M. Banks, Dan Simmons or C.J. Cherryh. Sam Humphries (Marvel's Ultimates) has created a fascinating original comic/graphic novel in Higher Earth.

Space is dead. That's the tagline. No aliens. No distant worlds to explore or invading alien armadas to battle. Just the Earth. The twist? The multiverse exists. Why bother going out into space when you can simply cross universes, take the ...

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Dark Horse's Ode to Robert E. Howard: 'Savage Sword: Volume One', a Comic Anthology

When you think of Robert E. Howard, you probably go straight to Conan, arguably his most famous character. But Howard, like most authors, had many more characters and stories beyond Conan. Dark Horse Comics brings many of those characters together in their new graphic novel, Savage Sword: Volume One.

Not too long ago, here at the Kirkus Reviews blog, I talked about Once Upon A Time Machine, an anthology of short stories in comic form. Savage Sword is in that same vein. It collects original stories featuring Howard's characters, many of whom you may not be familiar with. Yes ...

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Marvel Adapts 'Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz' in Comic Form

Whimsical. That's the word that came to mind as I made my way through this adaptation of L. Frank Baum's Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, a 184-page trade paperback available from Marvel Comics.

Everyone knows the film version of Baum's Oz starring Judy Garland, but I've come across few who are familiar with the original 14 books, plus all the other books that came after (something like 14 at last count). I haven't even read all of them, but when I saw that Marvel had started to adapt these works, I wanted to take ...

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'Once Upon A Time Machine': Classic Stories, New Art

This massive book caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, I know Dark Horse puts out great books. Second, the cover is a fascinating mix of fairy tale creatures and science fiction elements like rocket ships and wormholes. Who wouldn't want to pick that up and thumb through? It's essentially an attempt to reimagine classic fairy tales (a trend these days) in a science fiction setting. Editors Andrew Carl and Chris Stevens sought a plethora of indie and up-and-coming writers and artists like Farel Dalrymple (Pop Gun War), Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Khoi Pham (Daredevil), and Brandon ...

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That Other Charlaine Harris Series

Grave Sight: A Harper Connelly Graphic Novel Part ...

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Robert Jordan's 'The Wheel of Time' in Graphic Novels

With A Memory of Light, the final installment in Robert Jordan's long running Wheel of Time series, being released this month, I thought I'd take a look at the comics adaptations by TOR and Dynamite.  Several graphic novel collections are currently available, encompassing the events detailed in the novella New Spring and the first half of the first book in the series, The Eye of the World.

New Spring

Originally appearing as a novella in the Robert Silverberg anthology Legends, New Spring was later adapted as a prequel novel and published in hardcover by TOR, and then was ...

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Top 5 Batman Graphic Novels

The Dark Knight Rises is about to break records at the box office, so it seems only fitting that I share my Top 5 graphic novels starring Gotham’s protector: The Batman.

It’s the summer of the superhero. Read our list of top Spider-Man graphic books.

Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1

From the comic boom of the ’90s, when everyone and their cousin was suddenly interested in collecting comics, comes Knightfall, a multi-issue story arc now contained in a DC Comics graphic novel.

Bane, criminal mastermind who uses the Venom serum to increase his physical strength beyond any normal human ...

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Top 5 Spider-Man Graphic Novels

With The Amazing Spider-Man in theaters, I thought it would be fun to take a look at my top five graphic novels starring everyone’s favorite web-head.

Read more reviews of top graphic novels.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 1

If you truly want to understand the mythology behind the new movie, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 1 is the place to start. Marvel’s Ultimate comics line is a complete reimagining of the iconic characters from the Marvel Universe. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Mark Bagley, the elements of the Spider-Man you know are here. Peter Parker, high ...

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‘The Gunslinger’: A Great Entry Point to Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series

In 1982, Stephen King began his Dark Tower series with The Gunslinger, which introduced Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger on his quest to find “the man in black” and, eventually, The Dark Tower, described as “the center of everything.”

A mix of fantasy, western, horror and science fiction, The Dark Tower spanned eight novels and a comic book prequel series from Marvel Comics.

Read more on Michael Moorcock's 'Elric.'

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger—The Journey Begins is a gorgeous hardcover with script by Peter David, a name comic-book readers are well accustomed to seeing (The Incredible Hulk, Young ...

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Michael Moorcock’s ‘Elric: The Balance Lost’

Talk to a fan of the sword and sorcery genre, and it won’t take long for the conversation to turn to Elric, the 428^th Emperor of Melniboné. 

With alabaster skin and wielding the soul-eating sword Stormbringer, Elric is the Eternal Champion, someone who is chosen to fight for the cosmic Balance. In Michael Moorcock’s stories, Elric is one of many such Champions, who exist in every different version of reality throughout the multiverse. Each Champion must fight for the balance between Law and Chaos, two opposing forces locked in an eternal struggle for dominance. Should either side ...

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‘A Game of Thrones,’ in Graphic Form

Whether you are a fan of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy novels set in the fictional world of Westeros, or the hit HBO series now in its second season, you’ve probably heard the title A Game of Thrones.

Read the last SF Signal on social SF.

Even those who don’t read fantasy are probably familiar with A Game of Thrones because the story—a gritty tale of warring factions scrambling for power, scheming families, sex, lies and betrayal—resonates across genres and fandoms. Folks who have never shown the slightest bit of interest in epic fantasy ...

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