Lori Lovecraft #1 [1997]

by Mike Vosburg

Caliber Comics

49 Pages

"And... action!"

It's not only one of the most famous phrases of the last century thanks to Hollywood, it is the central theme of the one-shot "Lori Lovecraft" from Caliber Comics. The story follows a starlet who, in her early years found fame and fortune as a voracious vixen of the big screen on multiple hits of cinematic mayhem.

Now at 30, she's facing the reality that strikes many starlets who depended on their looks rather than their acting abilities: she's out of work and gets cast for low-budget films with questionable directors of questionable character.

In this instance, Lori finds herself on the set of a film by a famous director - one who takes himself very seriously as a producer of masterworks - but who has himself become a D-lister.

He also happens to have a copy of the dread book "The Necronomicon": a spell book written by the mad arab Al Hazred, and intends to use it to further his career and that of his new interest: Natasha, a rock-and-roll singer with insatiable ambition for sex, violence, and fame.

The dastardly duo attempt to lure Lori and her co-star to be sacrificed to a demon they've summoned in order to release a magician trapped in hell who can grant their desires. Action ensues, leading to the predictable climax [pun intended]. In the end, Lori chooses to take the book for herself and vows to learn its secrets as she embarks on a quest to find herself..

The book is an interesting enough read featuring the usual Lovecraftian tropes, but the writing is a bit flat; there are numerous one-liners that seem very dated [even for 1997] and cheesy. Some are cheesy in a good way, but most are not.

The dialogue is full of innuendo, is reminiscent of a B-movie from the 1970's, and some of the characters' actions and decisions are baffling as written.

This black-and-white tale is written and drawn by Mike Vosburg, who was responsible for the Spawn cartoon series and for drawing every comic book used in the "Tales From the Crypt" HBO show, which says a lot about the art: it's what you can expect from somebody with that kind of resume.

The artwork is very high-contrast like those great old horror comics or Mike Mignola's [Hellboy] or Frank Miller's [Sin City] work. The writing is what can be expected from an artist-turned-writer, much like the early Image Comics work.

There is sex and violence, incuding talk of the sacrifice and violation of children [in a tongue-in-cheek way - not really in bad taste], shady characters, demons and monsters, sorcerers and magic, reincarnation, and...action.

Overall the story was enjoyable, with a new twist in including the Hollywood angle, but the comic really doesn't offer anything greatly out of the ordinary to write home about. For these reasons, I give it a 3 out of 5.

Contains brief nudity.

This comic can be found at comic shops, at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon.com [in a collected edition from AV Publications that includes all 4 one-shots], and on eBay. I found mine for $7 shipped, which is a great price for a comic of this length.