H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness

H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness

by Mark Ellis, Darryl Banks, Daryl Hutchinson, and Don Heck

Millennium Comics

77 pages

The original trade paperback of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness from Millennium Comics presents a story of the Miskatonic Project true to the source material, all in color. The colors are similar to those of popular modern artist Peach Momoko in that they look like they were done with color pencils.

The original writer, Mark Ellis, had wanted the project to be in black and white (in the way it's presented in the 2003 Graphic Novel, "The Miskatonic Project: H.P. Lovecraft's The Whisperer in Darkness"). Below is my original review of that work, followed by more details on this edition.

Prolific independent writer Mark Ellis teams up with Darryl Banks (Green Lantern), Daryl Hutchinson (Crypt of Cthulhu), and Don Heck (Iron Man/Avengers) to pump out a faithful rendition of one of H.P. Lovecraft's classic novellas.

The Miskatonic Project: The Whisperer in Darkness begins at breakneck speed with a cult sacrifice that quickly gets raided by a group of investigators called "The Miskatonic Project".

An exciting battle ensues, and the group is able to rescue the victim of the sacrifice, Professor Wilmarth. After arriving at a safe space, the professor begins to tell his story to the investigative group. What follows as the first part (of a 3-part story) is a true-to-source telling of the "Whisperer in Darkness". 

The second part of the story follows the details of the investigation the group delves into, and the final, action-packed part explodes into the revelations that the investigation bears.

The story is truly engaging, and it leaves the reader hungry to experience the next Miskatonic Project story. The action and mystery screams of "Delta Green", a Mythos-based role-playing game in which investigators for a secret government group delve into the darkest parts of strange happenings and cosmic horror. 

The artwork is in black-and-white, which is not for everyone, but I think it adds to the pulp feel of the work and may add to the intrigue of the story itself. Characters are rendered very well, although the monsters at times seem a little cheesy (think 1950's sci-fi/horror flicks), but this, I think, also adds to the fun of it all. Coming in at 75 pages of story, the book also includes 50 pages of bonus content, including a thoughtful analysis of H.P. Lovecraft's view of humanity by Donald Burleson, a very interesting timeline of Lovecraftian lore and events, interviews with the creators, and bonus artwork and comics panels from the creators' prior works, including DC and Marvel work. At a cover price of $16.99, this can't be beat, and I found mine on eBay for $10 shipped. I highly recommend this at 5 out of 5 stars.

As mentioned earlier, this version is in full color, but I don't feel it adds much to the work. I actually prefer it in black and white. Plus, this version is only 75 pages, so it's missing some crucial details contained in the Miskatonic Project version, namely the opening foreword/article on Lovecraft's view of humanity, as well as the very helpful and interesting timeline of Lovecraftian events. But the story is the same, exciting version reminiscent of Delta Green, which makes it a very fun read. This color version takes 4 out of 5 stars.