This August, Boom! Studios is launching a four-issue mini-series called Necronomicon, based on H.P. Lovecraft’s mystical book of the same name, the religious text featured in dozens of Lovecraft’s stories. The comic is written by William Messner-Loebs, with interior art by Andrew Ritchie, and covers by J.K. Woodward.
“Lovecraft believed—and he was right—that the scariest things are those least understood. Thus he kept everything as vague as he could—the mythos, the monsters, even the horrid and grisly fates of his heroes,” said Messner-Loebs. “Well, my job… is to describe, explicate, explain, and anatomize said book and lay its mysteries bare, all whilst causing as much havoc as I can.”
Necronomicon follows the story of Henry Said, an Arabic college student in 1920s Arkham, Massachusetts, who is hired by cultists to find the forbidden tome and obtain the dark powers of old. In the course of his adventures, Henry travels the world as he traces the footsteps of the Necronomicon‘s writer, Abdul Alhazard, and makes a dark discovery.
“The terror of Lovecraft’s creations comes from their implications—the idea that man is insignificant and small,” said Boom! Studios Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid. “These elder gods exist outside our perceptions, and nothing we do matters because we are just a footnote in their texts. I’m excited about Necronomicon because William Messner-Loebs understands that tension in Lovecraft’s works, and J.K. Woodward’s covers and Andrew Richie’s art bring that to life.”
The 24-page, full-color book has a $3.99 cover price.