Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was an American writer, author of novels and tales of horror and science fiction. Despite his difficult character and his difficulty in relating to others, He was able to create his own mythology (the Cthulhu Myths) and be considered a great innovator of the horror story. Currently, he is considered a genius of horror literature and one of the most influential authors of the last century. Although in life he did not have the popularity he deserved, at present his stories are continuously reissued and his universe continues to expand continuously thanks to the trail of novelists who have followed his legacy. Without forgetting the different adaptations of his work to the cinema, television or comic.

Of the many versions that have been made in the field of the comic, the most prominent is undoubtedly «The myths of Cthulhu», which were made by Uruguayan illustrator Alberto Breccia and Argentine screenwriter Norberto Buscaglia, and which was first published in 1974. This comic, considered one of the great masterpieces of the genre, has a new edition by Astiberri Ediciones.

In "The myths of Cthulhu" we find stories such as "The color that fell from the sky", "The thing on the threshold", "The shadow over Innsmouth" and "The horror of Dunwich", among others. All of them, stories known to Lovecraft fans, but that with Breccia's illustrations come to life again. On this occasion, the terrifying stories of H.P. they pass through the Breccia sieve resulting in a terrifying anthology of nightmares worthy of the sickly mind of Providence's writer. The original gods, cosmic horrors and secret cults that frighten humanity are faithfully detailed in the pages of this graphic novel.

Alberto Breccia, considered the founding father of contemporary Argentine cartoon, combines the most classic stroke with experimental drawing, which favors recreating the distressing atmosphere of New England and the beings beyond the stars that populate Lovecraft stories. Some beings who are intuited, rather than seen, in all that dread arisen from Lovecraft's mind.

Breccia signed what is the adaptation of the Lovecraft imaginary that has best recreated the distressing essence of his stories. All his horror, darkness and cosmic terror flood this comic. To achieve this, he used different pictorial techniques, combining and alternating them, sometimes adding various collages, thus achieving that the black and white vignettes offered unpublished nuances until that moment. The edition is made from the original Breccia pages. To the nightmares suggested by the visions of Lovecraft, the illustrator adds his disturbing stroke, which leads the reader to suffer differently from the oppressive atmosphere of the writer.

On his first trip to Europe, at the end of the 50s, Alberto Breccia bought in Barcelona an anthological work of horror stories that contained a short story of Lovecraft: «The horror of Dunwich». After reading it, he realized that he needed to adapt it to the comic. He quickly realized that the traditional language of the cartoon could not satisfactorily represent the universe of Lovecraft, so he began to experiment with new techniques, such as monotype or collage. The author stressed that “these monsters reports are made that way because I did not want to offer the reader only my own vision: I also wanted each reader to add something of their own, to use the base that I provided to dress them with their own fears, their own fear ».

Forty-five years after the first edition saw the light, "The myths of Cthulhu" continues to be a graphically revolutionary work. Possibly, one of the best adaptations of literature to comics. A timeless masterpiece that, after several years discontinued, is again available to all readers and in a large format.

The legacy continues

Enrique Breccia (Buenos Aires, 1945) is an internationally recognized author beyond his last name. He entered the industry in the best way. With his father, Alberto, he collaborated in «Mort Cinder», in the technical work of drawing, and in «El Eternauta», in the creation of the greatest nightmare situations in history. His first great work was in "La vida del Che" (1968), again with his father and screenwriter Héctor Germán Oesterheld.

With the arrival of the Argentine military dictatorship, the originals of this work were destroyed. Precisely, Oesterheld appears as one of the disappeared from that dark period. In 1977, together with the screenwriter Carlos Trillo, the publication of his first great international success begins: «Alva Mayor». From 1979, and in collaboration with his father, he made several drawings in Chinese ink on historical events and illustrious characters, all of them Argentine, for television in his country.

After publishing for years in his native country and in Europe, in 2000 he made his first work in the United States for Marvel by collaborating on "X-Force" and "Uncanny X-Men". For DC Comics participates in "Legion Worlds" and "Batman: Gotham Knights". Then He made his first work related to the Lovecraftian universe: the graphic novel "Lovecraft" (Editorial Standard), with a script by Hans Rodionoff and Keith Giffen, and published by the Vertigo Comics label in 2003. This biography of the Providence novelist had an introduction from filmmaker John Carpenter and a brief review of Guillermo del Toro on the back cover. Shortly thereafter, fate would bring them together at the Comi-Con in San Diego in 2005. On this meeting, Breccia would report: «I was introduced by the writer of" Lovecraft ", Hans Rodionoff, who is a very good friend of his. Then we connect because it has the same sense of acid and absurd humor that I have ».

But Del Toro is also a great admirer of Enrique's work, since for the Mexican filmmaker «Enrique Breccia is an artist who belongs to the world, covering the vital space of art and narrative with a surprising and vital graphic work». To which he adds that "he is the heir of a huge tradition, not only by consanguinity but by trade, which goes beyond borders and places him among the best artists in the world." Guillermo is a renowned comic book collector. Among his most precious jewels are precisely five original pages of "Lovecraft" that decorate the walls of his house.

Enrique Breccia returned to work in 2010 in an adaptation of H.P. This is "In the mountains of madness" (Books of the Red Fox), a work to which he dedicated two years of his life. On this work the Argentine author would affirm that "in my opinion it is the most difficult work to illustrate of all of Lovecraft because in it the author leaves almost everything freed to the imagination of the reader". This work would reunite the author with Guillermo del Toro when the director wanted to take the story of Lovecraft to the big screen. Del Toro wanted to count on Breccia for the design of the costumes and the setting of the film, but Warner canceled the project because of its high cost.

The other Lovecraft in the comic

With more or less fortune, Lovecraft has been taken more than once to the pages of the comics and this is a small selection of the countless versions and editions that we can find in Spanish. Veteran cartoonist Richard Corben is responsible for "The Den of Horror: Lovecraft" (Panini Comics), a selection of disturbing stories written by Howard Phillips. «The young Lovecraft» (Diabolo Editions), initially created as a web comic in 2004 by José Oliver and Bartolo Torres, is a comic collected in four volumes that tells, in a humorous way, the childhood years of the writer of American horror stories.

We cannot forget "Visions" (Norma), where some of Howard Phillips' best horror stories are compiled, this time adapted to the comic by Uruguayan Hernán Rodríguez. Screenwriter Alan Moore ("Watchmen") has repeatedly approached the universe of H.P. Lovecraft In "Tales of Yuggoth and other stories" (EDT), the bearded man of Northampton offers his vision of the work "Mushrooms of Yuggoth and other poems", being also responsible for "Neonomicon" (Panini Comics), which combines horror and intrigue Detective to analyze the figure of Lovecraft and that plays with the possibility that the beings of his novels were not the result of the imagination of Lovecraft, but actually existed. Panini also published in our language "Providence", composed of three volumes, a project that would be Moore's most ambitious related to Lovecraftian mythology.