Comics creator INJ Culbard has tackled a string of adaptations of the work of horror legend HP Lovecraft. His SelfMadeHero graphic novel At the Mountains of Madness won a British Fantasy Award, and he has also tackled The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and The Dunwich Horror.

His latest outing is The Shadow Out of Time a tale of alien possession and Lovecraft's signature cosmic horror. Culbard spoke to us about the delights and challenges of tackling the timeless horror tales.

SelfMadeHero

What is it about HP Lovecraft's stories that makes them so popular? Do you think he is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, or did he never really go away?

"He's always been there, even if people haven't realised it. I'm quite certain he's the Kevin Bacon of science fiction and horror. Stephen King was inspired by him, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola, John Carpenter, Stuart Godron, Clive Barker and so on. You see it in comics like Doctor.Strange, Swamp Thing... it's everywhere and its always been there.



"And over time he's experienced various surges in popularity, for example, in roleplaying gaming in the eighties, and, no doubt with Guillermo Del Toro's numerous attempts to bring At the Mountains of Madness to the big screen (something I sincerely hope he does and soon because I would dearly love to see it)."

What drew you to The Shadow Out of Time?

"Lots of things. There's elements to this story which are a little bit like At the Mountains of Madness and a little bit like Charles Dexter Ward in that it's a science fiction story but with family horrors thrown in. Also, it's sort of an indirect sequel to At the Mountains of Madness.



What are the challenges of adapting Lovecraft into graphic novel form?

"Lots of different things for different reasons. With At the Mountains of Madness, it may sound silly but, keeping a head count. There were so many characters in that one. I felt like a school teacher counting heads on the school bus every time a scene popped up where all the members of the expedition party were present. It sounds silly but it's very easy to forget someone when you're juggling a cast of 14 people.



"With Charles Dexter Ward it really was a complicated investigation story and for a good deal of the time, while I was working on it, my studio space looked like I was investigating a crime rather than adapting a book. In both instances a calendar proved essential."

SelfMadeHero

SelfMadeHero

Lovecraft's dialogue or characterisation is often considered one of his weaknesses. Does that prove a barrier or a boon when tackling an adaptation?

"A boon, because it gives the adaptor plenty of wiggle room. Right from the first of his books which I adapted, At the Mountains of Madness, I knew that what I didn't want to do was litter the book with caption boxes of his direct prose.



"I wanted characters talking. And Mountains of Madness really is lacking in dialogue so I had to make a good deal of it up. Well, all of it. All if it except for Professor Lake's radio correspondences. They reference the book rather more directly. And that was the first liberating step. Realising this was an adaptation, not a transcription, an adaptation that was telling the story visually and through character interaction.

"Lovecraft himself regarded his characterisation as poor, a little harsh, I think, but dialogue? I think that's unfair. There's not a great deal of dialogue in his The Case of Charles Dexter Ward but what there is of it is excellent. The character Joseph Curwen is simply brilliant. Brilliantly evil. And a good deal of that malevolence comes from the dialogue."

Many of his stories (particularly in the 'Cthulhu Mythos') have many similarities. How do you go about developing a distinct style and design for each adaptation?

"Part of that's my development as an artist. Simply put, I like to try something new, but only a little new, because it's still my style. But I look at things like panel structure specifically and how a book is paced. I'm learning all the time, so part of that developmental process as an artist probably feeds into that, but it's certainly all one universe to me.



"Miskatonic University and its Library are just the same, design-wise, as I had them in At the Mountains of Madness and The Dunwich Horror (which appears in the first Lovecraft Anthology by SelfMadeHero and was adapted by Rob Davis). So it's sort of my corner of the Lovecraft universe now, as it were. Those 'world-building' elements remain consistent.

"But Cthulhu himself was at first portrayed with two eyes but he now has six, and those changes are fine because what you're seeing is a narrator's interpretation. So there are always these tiny little changes (Lovecraft himself drew Cthulhu with six eyes)."

SelfMadeHero

Do you have any other Lovecraft adaptations in the works?

"I do, but I can't talk about it just yet but it will be for next year. I'm already started the research for it and making notes, as it's a bit epic in scope. Let's say I will be starting a trip to the dreamlands quite soon."



What other projects are you working on?

"Right at this very moment I'm drawing Brass Sun for 2000 AD with Ian Edginton on story duties, and I'm writing and drawing my first original graphic novel for SelfMadeHero called Celeste, which will be out next spring."



The Shadow Out of Time, published by SelfMadeHero, is available now.

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