I had my doubts when I picked up Fall of Cthulhu: The Gathering at the public library. Maybe there was something I missed, another volume that I could've read before picking up The Gathering. Truth is, I only picked up the trade because of name recognition. I'm a fan of Lovecraft's work, and this graphic novel was obviously inspired by the mythos, extending from the Cthulhu mythos and touching down upon the Dreamlands.

However, Michael Alan Nelson's story left me wondering if he really was inspired by the mythos, or if he just read about it and then decided to go on his own to see if anyone would realize it. Maybe it's just me. I'm a fan of graphic novels, but it seems in my attempts to read horror comics, I always feel like I'm being cheated out some of something essential.

Nelson split his story up into five parts with the last two merged together. Each has a different artist, with the except of the last two. The art work various from contemporary comic book fashion, to the nitty gritty old style often found in horror comics, to cartoonish depictions. The last two parts of the book, covered by Pablo E. Quiligotti, are my favorite. While the story didn't capture my attention, Quiligotti's work reminded me of better graphic novels with better stories - Sandman comes to mind.

Read it if you must - mostly because it's a boring day and there's nothing else for you to do. But trust me, if you're a fan of the mythos, you'll probably wind up hating yourself for even bothering to pick this up. ( )

The new creations fit right into Lovecraft's universe. Brilliant stuff. ( )

This graphic novel compiles issues #6-10 of Boom Studios' masterpiece, Fall of Cthulhu. I collected them in comic book form, but this is more convenient for the casual reader.

Fall of Cthulhu #6, Boom Studios, Sep 2007 - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Greg Scott, colors by Joel Seguin, cover B Tyler Walpole, cover A Vatchie Malian - The first 5 issues of Fall of Cthulhu were subtitled The Fugue. They made for a very tight story arc as we learned about Nyarlathotep's scheme to provide Cthulhu as a quarry for Nodens. These next 5 issues are subtitled The Gathering, as Nyarlathotep gathers allies and servitors. Each issue is a more self contained story, and in general I found the first 5 issues more compelling, although some of these issues were very good. For example, this one! Fortunately, with a single writer there remains a unity of purpose to the story. In the frozen arctic a group of men are searching for something. The man who hired these workers is very creepy and appears to be looking for an old shipwreck lost in the ice. Turns out he's Connor, who's working for Mr. Arkham, searching for the wreck of the Comorant. They eventually find the ship. There are frozen bodies on the ship, which was lost in 1907. Connor is looking for a trunk. From the captain's journal, it turns out the crew was hoping to sink the trunk into the Atlantic when they were caught in the ice. Fast forward 3 months...Connor is the only one who made it back and he's trying to pick up a girl in a bar, saying the trunk had an artifact from Atlantis. She goes up to his room and he offers her a look inside the chest...This was a very good issue with excellent art and a tightly written story that built up tension all the way to the end.

Fall of Cthulhu #7, Boom Studios, Oct 2007 - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Marco Rudy, colors by Marc Rueda, cover B Patrick McEvoy, cover A Vatchie Malian - A little boy runs into a comic book store on his birthday, allowed to get 7 comics by his mother. It turns out the shopkeeper is Sysyphyx, Mr. Arkham's pet demon from last issue. She offers him super powers but he can't tell his parents. All he has to do is open her present when he's alone. After he does this, he understands what he has to do to be able to fly. Somehow he gradually changes from a sweet natured boy into a cruel and aggressive bully, cutting the heads off of dolls. He keeps repeating `knee first, head second.' Eventually he shows his father what he means. His mother is distraught and runs away seeking help. Fortuitously, Mr. Arkham and Sysyphyx are there when she is most desperate. This issue was quite good, absorbing with a truly horrific story and excellent art. I think it may have been my favorite in the current 5 issue story arc.

Fall of Cthulhu #8, Boom Studios, Nov 2007 - writer Michael Alan Nelson, art byTim Hamilton and Michael Fiffe, colors by Marc Rueda, cover B Patrick McEvoy, cover A Vatchie Malian - Mr. Arkham and Connor are in his study, with Mr. Arkham persuading Connor to do something he wished to avoid. He gives Connor a sedative of sorts. Connor finds himself in the Dreamlands, if not quite by the route he imagined. Connor meets a priest who helps empty him of his soul. He is to be the `Vessel of Gith.` Connor then has an interlude with the Harlot. Here there was the first real problem with technical matters I have seen in this series. The dialogue balloon for Nyarlathotep on the last panel was just about unreadable. This was the same on all my copies with both covers A and B. Next, Nyarlathotep as the Black Pharoah assists Connor in his transformation. I continue to enjoy Mr. Nelson's writing in this issue; it was suspenseful and well thought out. I was less impressed by the art in this comic than the previous ones but it was still pretty good, particularly the Black Pharoah. All in all, a very enjoyable book.

Fall of Cthulhu #9, Boom Studios, Dec 2007 - writer Michael Alan Nelson, art and colors by Pablo Quiligotti, cover A Patrick McEvoy, cover B Vatchie Malian - For me this issue was the first misfire of the whole series. I just did not care for it. A little girl does not speak (as far as we know) and has no face of her own (as far as we know), and she dances through the Dreamlands cavorting with the monsters and humans there, while slowly answering Mr. Arkham's summons to the waking world. She wears different grotesque masks depending on her mood. Her internal dialogue is delivered mostly in a sing-songy rhyme. The issue ends when she reaches Mr. Arkham's boarding house. The story wasn't bad, although not much happened but I didn't like the rhyme bits and I found the art less attractive than in the previous issues. It was more tolerable the second time through a few days later.

Fall of Cthulhu #10, Boom Studios, Feb 2008 - written by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Pablo E. Quiligotti, cover A - Patrick McEvoy,Cover B - Pablo E. Quiligotti - The story opens as Sysyphyx and the Masked Mute discover a jar in the bowels of Miskatonic University of uncertain provenance (it was found on the Gardner farmstead). Mr. Arkham allays the curator's concerns. Mr. Arkham is a bit peckish because Connor, AKA the Vessel of Gith, is having misgivings and is painting the town one last time. Mr. Arkham has to come to his rescue and calm down the nasty biker bar where Connor has been making people mad. It seems there is more required of Connor to become the Vessel than he is quite comfortable with. Mr. Arkham persuades him into the care of Dr. Blackwood who performs some minor surgery. Now Mr. Arkham has assembled his guests and minions: Sysphyx, scourge of Atlantis, Gnruk of Vol' Kunast, the Masked Mute, sister of the Abyss and the Gith, father of pestilence. Mr. Arkham begins to unveil his scheme, that requires Nodens be warring with Cthulhu. While they do a bit of light reading from the Necronomicon, Mr. Arkham discusses Connor's reluctance at the beginning of the story and shows how understanding he can be.

As usual, I liked the story but I thought the art was a serious step down for the series. While not bad it wasn't especially good and added to my impression that the first 5, The Fugue, were a better overall experience than the next 5, The Gathering. Nonetheless, this is still a series very much worth reading. A slightly lesser read in this series is still head and shoulders above other comics, and you need to read this to follow what happens in future issues.

Highly recommended! ( )