LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #1, from Ablaze Publishing on September 14th, 2022, takes on the challenge of adapting Lovecraft’s ethereal collection of stories – The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath – as Randolph Carter embarks on a quest to find Kadath within the mysterious and deadly world of dreams.
The Details
- Written by: Florentino Flórez
- Art by: Guillermo Sanna, Jacques Salomon
- Colors by: Guillermo Sanna, Jacques Salomon
- Letters by: Saida Temofonte
- Cover art by: Jacques Salomon
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 14, 2022
Is It Good?
When you ask the average person what comes to mind when evoking the name Lovecraft, you’ll likely get a reply talking about Old Ones, tentacled monsters, and Eldritch horror. However, Lovecraft is equally prolific in creating fantasy stories set in dream worlds with strange peoples and deep mythology.
LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #1 is the latest offering from Ablaze to adapt one of Lovecraft’s seminal fantasy stories – The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath – into comic form, and the results are pleasantly surprising. Lovecraft’s protagonist, Randolph Carter, enters a quest within the dream world to find a rare and mysterious city, Kadath, and his travels force him to navigate all forms of men, monsters, and gods to achieve his goal. This story is not light reading, by any measure, so hats off to the creative team for tackling Lovecraft’s work head-on.
Is the adaptation faithful? Yes. Concessions needed to be made to fit the plot into the allotted panels and page space, but the spirit of the story remains intact. All the names and places you would recognize from the source material are present – from the Zoogs to the city of Ulthar to the strange crew of the Black Galleys. In fairness, the story needed to be trimmed to fit, but the details lost don’t negatively take away from Lovecraft’s vision.
Also, Lovecraft’s work is dense with a plethora of characters and locations (again, not light reading), so you may feel there’s too much coming at you all at once. However, Flórez keeps the narrative flow consistent and tweaks the dialog to focus on what matters. This adaptation is good enough to recommend as a companion piece to Lovecraft’s original text for new readers.
How’s the art? It’s good. Salomon and Salla faithfully provide interpretations of the written characters to fit within the comic medium. When the esoteric scenes take place (e.g. the Black Galley’s trip to the moon), Salomon and Salla’s work shines with eye-popping visuals and whimsical colors.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
This comic is a faithful adaptation ofH.P. Lovecraft’s work – The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
Rather than re-summarize Lovecraft’s story here, we recommend you pick up a copy for yourself. Click here for more information.
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Final Thoughts
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LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #1 is a reverent and faithful adaptation of one of Lovecraft’s more challenging works. The translation is distilled enough to work as a comic without losing the important essence of Lovecraft’s vision, the character designs are lovingly interpreted, and the overall flow of the comic is steady and strong.
Related Information
What is Kadath?
Kadath is a hidden, magical city located in the realm of dreams, a plane of existence separated from our physical world. The city is renowned for its beauty and populated by an assortment of diverse citizens, including dream gods.
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