Salem Brownstone – All Along the Watchtowers John Harris Dunning and Nikhil Singh
A sumptuous and rich gothic fantasy following the adventure of Salem Brownstone as he falls into a strange and magical world after the death of his father.
As he twists the key and slowly creeps into the grand gothic mansion left to him in his father’s will, Salem’s life takes a decidedly unusual turn. Aside from the money and house, his father’s secret legacy includes an unfinished battle with creatures from a world beyond ours. Immediately thrown into the sinister conflict, Salem must make contact with his guardian familiar and get help from the colourful performers of Dr Kinoshita’s Circus of Unearthly Delights, if he is to ward off the evil spirits and avoid the tragic fate of his father…
The book design is lovely with an almost velvet-style cloth cover. The action all takes place in New Mecco City, Azania and there are only certain books I will read several times and since I received this for review back in...2009! Wow. Anyway, since that time I can tell you that I have read through this book and gazed longingly at the art way more than twice a year.
I would urge you, if you are a comic lover who has eclectic tastes, to try and get a copy of this. It is still available so do yourself a favour. Sadly, this was the first and last outing for Salem Brownstone Esqr.
Of course I would love this as well as the art style after all I raved over Charles Cuttings two books based on Lovecraft characters in Sloth Comics Kadath : or The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter -a review here. https://hoopercomicart.blogspot.com/2015/06/sloth-comics-kadath-or-dream-quest-of.html sadly, Charles Cutting was last seen fighting off a green, tentacled octopoid atop Westminster Abbey so he is heard from no more!
ISBN-10: 1908830077
ISBN-13: 978-1908830074
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kadath-Dream-Quest-Randolph-Carter/dp/1908830077
Three times Randolph Carter dreams of a magnificent sunset city, but his perfect dreams are not what they seem to be. As Carter sets out on a quest within a dream world to find his ideal city at all costs, he is drawn inexorably closer towards a terrible secret. Based on H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath (1943).
I absolutely raved over The Dream Quest Of Randolph Carter but, for its usual mysterious reasons, blogger has somehow managed to delete it. Seriously, they have no idea just how important I and my words are! But, yes, I did rave about the book.
So, when a 112 pages book arrives you bet I got a bit excited.
Charles Cuttings art style -including the vibrant colours- is, for me, a winner. I have no idea why I like it other than the great use of imagination when it comes to the denizens and environs of the book. There's also that whole Cat race and mouse race thing going on. If you have ever studied cats (DO NOT let them find you doing that) or owned cats then you know there is "something" going on there that we mere humans have no right knowing about.
But what does Mr Cutting do now he has a whole graphic novel to tell a story in? Well, the character of the main protagonist, Randolph Carter, can be filled out more. I think the best way of decribing him is as a complete bastard. He is certainly not a hero -more an anti-hero and he really does not care one hoot about what he has to do to achieve his goal in the Dream Quest.
And this is not a direct adaptation of the Lovecraft story. In this case, and reading it in one sitting at 0200 hours one morning, the art is a treat, the story twists a bit and at the end I sat there -as Carter celebrated good news- thinking "Hang on -is he actually still sleeping?" That might be just my interpretation but I am going to be reading this again later on!
I do NOT intend it to be in any way insulting -it's meant as a compliment!- but the look and feel had me thinking of old Russian near surrealistic puppet films:
And since many consider The Devil's Ball to be one of the greatest examples of its kind that's a compliment.
I have absolutely no idea why this book brought this short to mind. Some times I do find that books do that for me. And Kadath : or The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter is a little classic in its own right. The way Mr Cutting uses colour I love. It is not the usual flat colour you tend to get in comics today, nor the washy type. It's very vibrant and I'll be honest and tell you all that the first thing I did on getting this book was go through it looking at the art and the colour. Then I read it!
I just realised, having had a mental flash of images in my mind from Roger Corman's movies The Raven and The Masque of the Red Death that he used colour rather well. I could ramble on about how colour combined with the right images will bring back certain memories but we are talking about Mr Cutting's book here!
It is interesting that Independent artists such as Charles Cutting, produce work of this calibre that seems to slip "under the radar" in the comics community. And the big publishing houses, dipping their toes into graphic novels because it is "hip", churn out some badly drawn muck.
A good read -most definitely. Great art -well, I am notoriously difficult to please but this does it for me and it has that quirky feel to it. So, yes, great art.
Like good comics? Love Lovecraft? THIS is for you. Do not miss out or you will be kicking yourselves -I only hope Sloth Comics think of trying to promote this book at one of the US horror fests -or even Lovecraft events because it deserves to be read by many who may find themselves on their own dream quests.
Sorry for rambling (note Randolph Carter puppet image below!).
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