r3n's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
meltates's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
niche's review against another edition
5.0
Solid adaptation
Contains The Temple, The Hound, and The Nameless City. Lovecraft is hard to adapt visually given that most of his mythology is supposed to be beyond sane comprehension and benefits from short form as these are not monsters to fight, but instead leviathans in the depths we swim hoping to be below their notice. Well drawn, these serve as nice adaptations willing leave their horror weird, mysterious, and hermetic and occult.
Contains The Temple, The Hound, and The Nameless City. Lovecraft is hard to adapt visually given that most of his mythology is supposed to be beyond sane comprehension and benefits from short form as these are not monsters to fight, but instead leviathans in the depths we swim hoping to be below their notice. Well drawn, these serve as nice adaptations willing leave their horror weird, mysterious, and hermetic and occult.
jmanchester0's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Three unsettling stories...The Temple, The Hound, and The Nameless City.
Well-adapted!
Well-adapted!
kapitein_stormwolk's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
bdesmond's review
5.0
I loved this. For the longest time I have wanted to dive into the stories of Howard Philips Lovecraft, and for the longest time I have not done so. It's just one of those "I'll get around to it" things. A friend of mine recommended this collection of manga adaptations of some of Lovecraft's popular short stories, and I jumped right in. Gou Tanabe's stark black and white artwork lends itself incredibly well to the chilling, eerie, cosmic horror of Lovecraft's work. It properly sets the mood and brings the stories to life. It also allowed me, as my first taste of his work, to realize that many other stories that I love are enormously influenced by Lovecraft. Most notably Hellboy, an absolute favorite.
I definitely recommend this collection for both fans of Lovecraft and those who are simply interested in his work. It was a good taste, I think. This particular collection contained three stories.
The Temple (1920)
In which a German submarine crew slowly succumbs to madness after discovering an artifact on the body of a dead British solider.
'...the silent secret of unfathomed waters and uncounted years.'
The Hound (1922)
In which two grave robbers seeking esoteric secrets find an amulet on a corpse 500 years dead. An artifact of the corpse-eating cult of Leng. And then, as you might imagine, things begin to go strange.
The Nameless City (1921)
In which a man following hints from within the Necronomicon discovers a city older than mankind itself, deep within the Arabian desert. A city lost to myth.
All three stories are worthwhile. All three are unsettling. All three are representative of what I understand Lovecraft to be. And lucky for me, it appears that Tanabe has adapted other Lovecraft stories as well. I'll definitely be reading those.
A sleepless night. A presence at the door. A whispering, barely heard. An anxiety and fear such as you haven't felt since you were young. An intuition of primordial death. Lovecraft was a writer who crafted such unknowable darkness--a priest of his own Mythos. I know fear even at the richness of his creativity.
- Gou Tanabe
I definitely recommend this collection for both fans of Lovecraft and those who are simply interested in his work. It was a good taste, I think. This particular collection contained three stories.
The Temple (1920)
In which a German submarine crew slowly succumbs to madness after discovering an artifact on the body of a dead British solider.
'...the silent secret of unfathomed waters and uncounted years.'
The Hound (1922)
In which two grave robbers seeking esoteric secrets find an amulet on a corpse 500 years dead. An artifact of the corpse-eating cult of Leng. And then, as you might imagine, things begin to go strange.
The Nameless City (1921)
In which a man following hints from within the Necronomicon discovers a city older than mankind itself, deep within the Arabian desert. A city lost to myth.
All three stories are worthwhile. All three are unsettling. All three are representative of what I understand Lovecraft to be. And lucky for me, it appears that Tanabe has adapted other Lovecraft stories as well. I'll definitely be reading those.
A sleepless night. A presence at the door. A whispering, barely heard. An anxiety and fear such as you haven't felt since you were young. An intuition of primordial death. Lovecraft was a writer who crafted such unknowable darkness--a priest of his own Mythos. I know fear even at the richness of his creativity.
- Gou Tanabe
msaari's review against another edition
3.0
First manga I've ever read in the Japanese page order. A bit weird, but you get used to it.
Lovecraft stories are good, and the art is generally dark and gloomy, as it should. Perhaps a tad too dark and murky. But not bad.
But why is there a Nazi flag flying in the U-Boot, when Lovecraft wrote the story in the 1920s and it's set in the World War I? Imperial Navy didn't use the Nazi flag, that much I know.
Also, the Finnish translator botched the famous couplet, coming up with something clunky instead of using the standard Finnish translation.
Lovecraft stories are good, and the art is generally dark and gloomy, as it should. Perhaps a tad too dark and murky. But not bad.
But why is there a Nazi flag flying in the U-Boot, when Lovecraft wrote the story in the 1920s and it's set in the World War I? Imperial Navy didn't use the Nazi flag, that much I know.
Also, the Finnish translator botched the famous couplet, coming up with something clunky instead of using the standard Finnish translation.
ninawinter's review against another edition
4.0
Denn es ist nicht tot, was ewig liegt, bis dass die Zeit den Tod besiegt.
Ich war richtig aus dem Häuschen, als ich die Mangas von Lovecrafts Geschichten sah. Dieser Band hat mich zwar von den Zeichnungen beeindrucken können, jedoch fehlten mir oft leider die Ortsangaben oder kleinere Details.
Trotzdem hat sich der Kauf für mich gelohnt.
Ich war richtig aus dem Häuschen, als ich die Mangas von Lovecrafts Geschichten sah. Dieser Band hat mich zwar von den Zeichnungen beeindrucken können, jedoch fehlten mir oft leider die Ortsangaben oder kleinere Details.
Trotzdem hat sich der Kauf für mich gelohnt.