Fans of cosmic horror have something to look forward to, as Dark Horse Comics announced that they’re bringing two of Gou Tanabe’s adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories to stores in 2024. At the Mountains of Madness will receive a deluxe edition compiling every chapter and volumes, while The Call of Cthulhu will receive one paperback volume. This continues Dark Horse’s plan to bring the award-winning artist’s work to international audiences.
Gou Tanabe has made a name for himself providing richly detailed black-and-white art that brings Lovecraft’s stories to life in terrifying detail. The new edition of Mountains of Madness includes additional treats for fans, while Call of Cthulhu brings another of his works to readers worldwide. For anime fans, these might be the works closest to Lovecraft’s original vision of cosmic horror.
Lovecraft’s Greatest Tales Come To Life With Tanabe’s Art
Created by Gou Tanabe
According to exclusive reports from Anime News Network, details about the two manga releases were revealed. Call of Cthulhu’s translations have been handled by Zack Davisson, who also did Mountains of Madness in 2019, and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories in 2017. Mountains of Madness’ new deluxe edition collects all chapters that were originally distributed in four volumes, and includes eight colored illustrations, a tip-in title page, a sewn-in bookmark ribbon, a wrap-around cover, as well as lamination. Mountains of Madness is expected to arrive on June 26, while Call of Cthulhu will be published in paperback on July 31.
While H.P. Lovecraft is renowned for his style of horror based on the insignificance of human existence, his pantheon of the Great Old Ones often winds up as a convenient starting point for god-like monsters. Anime and manga in particular like borrowing the designs, but typically lack Lovecraft’s signature aesthetic, which reaches its zenith in Cthulhu-based comedies like Nyaruko: Crawling with Love! Gou Tanabe stands out with his faithful modern recreations of the original stories, which reinterpret the many surreal monsters and environments in a way that captures the idea that humans are seeing things they were not designed to experience.
At the Mountains of Madness won the Prix Asie de la Critique ACBD 2019 award, solidifying the technical skill behind the magaka’s work. With Tanabe launching a new series of stories based on Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle, and the anime movie Naked Peak: Climb the Mountains of Madness currently in production, fans of the medium and the cosmic horror genre have plenty to be excited about. Cthulhu fans should look forward to next summer, when Dark Horse Comics brings Tanabe’s spin on H.P. Lovecraft to stores, new and improved.
