Graphic Novel Review: AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS Adapted by I.N.J. Culbard

I’m not very familiar with the actual words of H.P. Lovecraft despite the fact that I’ve seen a ton of films based on or inspired by his stories.  His unique eye for horror and the strange & unusual has inspired countless filmmakers and storytellers for ages of which I am very familiar so it is with great pleasure that I can say that I.N.J. Culbard’s adaptation and illustrated graphic novel for Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness is a fine example of a suspenseful psychological horror story.

Don’t let Culbard’s simply line work and vibrant colors foul you (I almost did).  Culbard’s artwork is direct and to the point while also giving off an atmosphere of impending dread.  The story involves a group of scientists who travel to the Antarctic on a research exploration but when they discover an artifact from an unknown civilization some of the scientists venture out to find the source of this artifact which leads them to the discovery of a long lost civilization of beings that predate man. 

Culbard knows how to build up the suspense for the slow burn of the story which only gives the final act that much bigger of a punch.  Fans of Lovecraft should enjoy the way in which Culbard has adapted the story and its actually a good jumping on point for those who are not familiar with Lovecraft’s more obscure works.

Book Review: RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE by Keith R.A. DeCandido

If you are a fan of the Resident Evil films than picking up the adaptation of the second film Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a no brainer but in truth I never cared for the second film and the only reason why I decided to finally pick up the novelization is because I liked the way that writer Keith R.A. DeCandido presented the previous novel in the series Resident Evil: Genesis.  In that novel he expanded on the stories of all the characters exponentially and he does the same thing in this novel which is a good thing since the film lacks this characterization.  Another thing that I like about this novel (rather than the film) is the fact that DeCandido references many things that he set up in the previous film which makes the character of Alice a very interesting and well rounded individual.

The story begins just after the events of the previous novel (just like the films) and continues the story of Alice as she tries to escape Raccoon City on the verge of the zombie outbreak.  The city is being shut down to contain infection and the last few remaining survivors band together with Alice in order to try and find a way out of the city but the genetic weapon Nemesis developed by the Umbrella Corporation has been deployed and its job is to stop Alice at all costs.  There is also a ticking clock running against Alice as the nefarious Umbrella Corporation will stop at nothing to contain the zombie outbreak even if it means disposing of the entire city in order to orchestrate a cover up.

I’ve never played any of the Resident Evil games (from any of the different gaming platforms) but I am a fan of the zombie genre which would be my initial way into the films and thus the novels.  As a fan of the zombie novel this novel is slightly light as compared to the Genesis story as more time is focused on the Nemesis character and the Lickers and the Umbrella Corp. itself.  Zombie fans may be a little put off by this but DeCandido does make up for it in terms of expanding on the universe that was only touched upon in the previous novel and the novel is bigger in scope than the film, which glosses over a lot of the details.