H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Festival, Part 1 Review [1993]

by Roy Thomas, Kelley Jones, RJM Lofficier, Brian Bendis, David Mack
Borderland Books

32 pages

Mixing Lovecraft's stories "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "The Festival", this adventure pits the Miskatonic Project, a group of investigators that echo heroes in the Delta Green role-playing game, against a powerful man who controls supernatural forces, and leads a psychotic cult who worships ancient beings of unspeakable power.

The first part of the book, like The Miskatonic Project: The Whisperer in Darkness, lays out the general plot of the story. In some parts, the text of "The Festival" is directly transposed from the original source material, making the work rather true to the original.

But unlike the other Miskatonic Project story, it isn't until the last couple of pages that we learn that this is a story about the group of investigators.This is not to say that this detracts at all from the story, but it just comes as a bit of a surprise. Also, there is no explanation as to who the Miskatonic Project are or why they are involved in the investigation, like on the Whisperer in Darkness case.

The writing is quite good, providing a great balance of dialogue and narration, and incorporating the original story to build the narrative. Brian Michael Bendis [Marvel Ultimate Universe, Superman], co-creator of Miles Morales Spider-Man, contributes to this work as one of his earliest comics.

The artwork is also very good, although not truly "horrific" enough for a Lovecraft story. The cover is magnificent, and I wish the interior art was more like the cover. The comic is in full color, but given the age of the comic, they aren't as bright as intended, I'm sure.

The story in itself is intriguing, and incorporating the Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a smart move because it provides much more background for the festival itself, and for the cult that hosts it. The story is engaging enough, true to the original, but still provides a new angle, so it will definitely appeal to fans of the genre, both old and new. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.