Lovecraft P.I (Paranormal Investigator) - A Shot In The Dark - Part 1 of 3
by Fritz Striker, D.W. Kann and Antonio Brandao
As I don’t want to bore you with a long, drawn-out history of H.P. Lovecraft (the author’s name used for the P.I.) one of my favorite horror writers of all-time, I gladly submit the link if you want to explore his fascinating history.
The creators of this comic also have a kickstarter campaign going. If you’re a supporter of comic books, and newcomers to the market, I can’t think of a better cause:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darksidefilms/lovecraft-pi-a-three-issue-limited-comic-series
Author’s Dislcaimer: I am in no way affiliated with this comic or anyone affiliated with this comic and receive no remuneration for this article. My only request is if you do meet up with anyone from there, tell them The Comic Whisperer sent you. It won’t get you anything special, but it will sure make me feel good.
Lovecraft P.I. is a pure joy to read if you are the type who loves monsters, mysteries, detective stories, detective slang, beautiful women, great artwork, solid storylines and octopi.
It starts as any detective story would...with a death. The question is, is it the result of a burglary gone wrong or is it a murder? The question becomes all the more important by the fact that the victim is the son of the richest, and apparently most loathsome, man in town. To make matters worse there appears to be a religious sect involved whose leader isn’t fond of the rich guy either.
The thing that intrigued me the most was not the plot, however, but the writing and the artwork. It read like a true detective story with all the detective slang and the “police versus the infringing private detective” one can handle. I even found myself looking up some of the slang because I had no idea what it meant. For instance, there is a scene where the mysterious beautiful blonde shows up and Lovecraft asks:
“What can I do for such a lovely bird?” (I love the whole “bird” thing...it’s so detective-ish)
She replies, as the detective is pouring himself a bourbon,
“I was going to ask for a light, but I’d rather get some of that paint. If you’re feeling gentlemanly that is?”
What? Some of that “paint”. What the heck does that mean? I had to look it up. Apparently the word “paint” comes from old west slang. It refers to how someone who is drunk looks like their nose has been “painted” red. That’s pretty cool! Now I will use the term with my friends and watch as they pull out their smartphones to look up what “paint” means. Ahhhh, the little pleasures in life.
But I digress...
The plot of the story involves the above stated murder during the theft of the “Necronomicon”. This book also has a fascinating background (I have a copy myself. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s not the original. It’s from Barnes and Noble.) You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necronomicon By sheer coincidence this book also appeared in stories written by H.P. Lovecraft! What are the odds?
So, it’s up to Lovecraft P.I. to put all the pieces together. Luckily, the mysterious blonde seems to be the one who knows where the pieces might be. As an aside, she reminds me of Jessica Rabbit from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” who says, “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” To put it bluntly, this blonde is “drawn that way”. Lovecraft P.I., however, is not. He is drawn like a typical detective in a dime store novel; he’s a smoker, a drinker, and has a permanent scowl on his age-worn face. He’s Humphrey Bogart all the way.
Honestly, the only thing that took the shine off this book is the occasional spelling mistake. Frankly, this is something that plagues many comic books. Once you get so close to a story, and its script, your eyes tend to ignore words spelled similarly, such as “to” and “two”. (read more of my blogs for shining examples of spelling errors). That being said, if anyone uses this as an excuse to not purchase the comic they’re just being foolish. This whole story is too gripping to pass up and it will have a spot on my “pull” list.
In summary, I hope the creators of Lovecraft P.I. love what they do because, in my opinion, they should be doing this for a long time to come. Lovecraft P.I. is a refreshing step away from the typical superhero story. It so accurately captures the classic detective that you can practically smell the cigarette smoke coming from the pages. Truth be told, it also cleverly makes a play at the ever-growing legion of mollusk lovers by including octopi throughout the pages (if that won’t add thousands of buyers nothing will).
My recommendation? This is a well written, well drawn comic that would make H.P. Lovecraft proud. I HIGHLY recommend adding this comic to your collection. I did!
A note to the authors: I wish you all the luck in the world with this comic. I truly look forward to part 2 and 3.
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