LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #5, from Ablaze Publishing on January 25th, 2023, finds Randolph Carter and his cat companion searching Celephais for information about the Leng Plateau.
The Details
- Written by: Florentino Flórez
- Art by: Guillermo Sanna
- Colors by: Jacques Salomon
- Letters by: Saida Temofonte
- Cover art by: Jacques Salomon (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: January 25, 2023
Is It Good?
We’ve said since the beginning of this series that this adaptation impressively and faithfully tackles one of Lovecraft’s most challenging stories. In LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #5, that challenge may be a tad too challenging.
Florentino Flórez seemingly does the impossible by taking a dense, detailed story about the world of dreams and compressing it into a readable twenty-four pages. Lovecraft’s Dream stories can range from esoteric to dreamy, and while it’s easy to follow the main characters from point to point, the trail they follow can sometimes come across as gibberish.
Here, the sheer volume of names, places, and relationships referenced is a lot to take in all at once. As with the previous issues, Florentino Flórez does a commendable job paring down the story to its essence without losing the magic or charm, but the endless stream of names, locations, and events makes the reading experience a bit cumbersome. To be clear, this adaptation is shockingly faithful, so if you’re a fan of Lovecraft’s original work, you’ll get it all.
Sanna, Salomon, and Temofonte deserve just as much credit for their imaginative-yet-accurate depiction of Lovecraft’s characters. In particular, the art team appears to be having fun with the depiction of the androgynous Kuranes, and that playful art style helps elevate a very dialog-heavy issue.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #4 review to find out how difficult it was for Randolph Carter to reach Celephais.
We begin with Randolph Carter entering the palace at Celephais to meet with his old friend, King Kuranes. The two discuss Carter’s quest, and Kuranes is keen to get Carter to stay a few days as means of getting Carter to give up on his dangerous goal. Carter agrees to stay until he receives word of the arrival of any ships headed for the Leng Plateau.
Later, “King” Kuranes is revealed to actually be “Queen” Kuranes, a fact Carter knew, but his cat companion did not. Cats and humans alike spend time discussing Carter’s past exploits and contacts. Suddenly, a cat lingering by the wharf brings work of an Iquanok ship headed for Leng.
We conclude the issue with tears, moaning islands, and a lie retracted.
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Final Thoughts
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LOVECRAFT: UNKNOWN KADATH #5 continues an impressively faithful adaptation of Lovecrat’s Dream story with an issue that gives Randolph Carter plenty of warning to give up on his dangerous quest. The art is fun, and the distillation of dialog and events into comic format is commendable, but this issue struggles with the volume of dialog and the sheer volume of names and locations readers need to remember.
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