{"id":290,"date":"2008-07-11T18:05:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-11T18:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2008\/07\/11\/cthulhu-landed-on-my-porch-yesterday\/"},"modified":"2014-12-14T18:47:57","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T18:47:57","slug":"cthulhu-landed-on-my-porch-yesterday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2008\/07\/11\/cthulhu-landed-on-my-porch-yesterday\/","title":{"rendered":"Cthulhu Landed On My Porch Yesterday"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"\"$ <\/a>It sounded like a small bomb exploded outside, so I ran to the door. When I opened it, nothing was there but a large cardboard box. The mailman was sprinting back to his truck down the street. The above photo shows you what shook the house. Not the Jess Nevins extravaganza to the left, but Centipede Press<\/a>\u2018 jaw-dropping magnum opus, A LOVECRAFT RETROSPECTIVE: ARTISTS INSPIRED BY H.P.L.<\/a>, edited by Jerad Walters. Nevins\u2019 FANTASTIC VICTORIANA is there for visual reference \u2014 so you can see how bone-crushingly massive the Lovecraftian masterpiece is. I\u2019ve heard the hype. I\u2019ve heard the giant pricetags. And quite frankly, I was reserving judgement until I saw the book for myself. But now that I\u2019ve experienced my comp copy, I\u2019m still numb 24 hours later. Two things to say:\n

1. When I first heard this book would have three editions and the least-expensive would be $395, I asked myself, \u201cWho\u2019s gonna buy this thing?!?\u201d However, now that I\u2019ve witnessed the gorgeous printing, the who\u2019s-who list of artists (Michael Whelan, Bob Eggleton, H.R. Giger, Bernie Wrightson, J.K. Potter, etc., etc.), the humongous size and heft\u2026.my revised question is \u201cwho can resist<\/span> this thing?\u201d Granted \u2014 most of us don\u2019t have $400 to drop on a book like this, but for anyone who has a personal library and love of Lovecraft and Cthulhu stories and art\u2026here\u2019s the skinny: this book is now an essential Holy Grail that has just made your library incomplete unless you have it. Seriously\u2026.it\u2019s that traffic-stoppingly luscious.<\/p>\n

2. For the past several years, I diligently fill out my World Fantasy Awards ballot and try to make intelligent nomination choices in each category. In 2009, this book, A LOVECRAFT RETROSPECTIVE, will be eligible for the World Fantasy Awards, and I\u2019m already looking forward to including it amongst my selections for the category \u201cSpecial Award\/Non-Professional\u201d. I won\u2019t be voting for it because I\u2019m in it, but because I can\u2019t imagine an achievement that could top it in the year 2008. It\u2019s that good, and that worthy.<\/p>\n

Last item: I noticed the following on the back end flap when I was showing the book to my wife late last night. \u201cFollowing early Weird Tales<\/span> art by Lee Brown Coye and Virgil Finlay, Lovecraft\u2019s personal favorite, to classic examples of 21st century renderings by modern masters like J.K. Potter and John Picacio, this volume\u2019s more than 400 pages comprise the best artwork inspired by the Rhode Island icon of horror.\u201d Too cool! \ud83d\ude42
$\"\"$ <\/a>Above: my spread in the book
$\"\"$ <\/a>Above: a double gatefold spread of a Michael Whelan classic that literally is so big, it falls off the table<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"