''Neonomicon'' is a four-issue comic book
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
written by
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...
and illustrated by
Jacen Burrows
Jacen Burrows (born September 11, 1972) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on various books from Avatar Press and Marvel Comics.
Career
Burrows graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 1996 with a degree in Seque ...
, published by American company
Avatar Press
Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...
in 2010. The story is a sequel to Moore's previous story ''
Alan Moore's The Courtyard
''Alan Moore's The Courtyard'' is a two-issue comic book mini-series published in 2003 by Avatar Press. The comic was adapted by Antony Johnston with artwork by Jacen Burrows from a 1994 prose story by Alan Moore (credited as "consulting edito ...
'' and continues exploring
H. P. Lovecraft's
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an ...
. Moore later continued the sequence with his comic ''
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
''.
In March 2012 it became the first recipient of the newly created "
Graphic Novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
" category at the
Bram Stoker Awards
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing.
History
The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...
.
Plot
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agents Lamper and Brears visit
Aldo Sax at a psychiatric hospital, where he has been detained since committing two murders. They are investigating a copycat killer, and want to question Sax about his motives. Sax speaks seemingly unintelligible gibberish. After studying Sax's previous investigation, Lamper and Brears decide to track down drug dealer Johnny Carcosa in
Red Hook,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Carcosa escapes into a mural in the courtyard of his apartment building. The agents track Carcosa's disturbing sex paraphernalia to a specialty shop in
Salem
Salem may refer to: Places
Canada
Ontario
* Bruce County
** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie
** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce
* Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
,
.
Going undercover as husband and wife, Lamper and Brears attend an
orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex.
Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swing ...
hosted by the owners of the shop, members of the
Esoteric Order of Dagon
The Deep Ones are creatures in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The beings first appeared in Lovecraft's novella ''The Shadow over Innsmouth'' (1931), but were already hinted at in the early short story " Dagon". The Deep Ones are a race ...
, who regularly indulge in sex rituals to attract the sexual attention of a race of
fishmen. Lamper and Brears are exposed as agents and Lamper is killed by the cultists. Brears is locked in a room with a fishman, which rapes her continuously for several days. During this ordeal Brears has a vision of Carcosa, who reveals himself as an avatar of
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem "Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by ...
, one of the
Great Old Ones
American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans who can barely begin to c ...
.
The creature tastes a drop of Brears' urine and determines that she is pregnant. It helps her escape through underwater tunnels into the ocean. Brears returns to the city and contacts the FBI, instructing them to raid the specialty shop. They find that the cultists have been killed by the fishman, which is gunned down by the agents. Three months later, Brears visits Sax and is able to understand his gibberish as
Aklo Aklo is the name of a fictional language that has been used by many authors from its first reference in 1899.[Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...]
.
Publication history
Moore talked about the genesis of the project in an interview with
''Wired'' magazine: "It was just at the time when I finally parted company with DC Comics over something dreadful that happened around the
''Watchmen'' film ..I had a tax bill coming up, and I needed some money quickly. So I happened to be talking to William
. Christensenfrom
Avatar Press
Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...
, and he suggested that he could provide some if I was up for doing a four-part series, so I did. So although I took it to pay off the tax bill, I’m always going to make sure I try and make it the best possible story I can."
Moore wanted to elaborate on some of the ideas presented in ''The Courtyard'' while at the same time telling a modern story that did not rely upon a 1930s atmosphere. Another idea was to use some of the elements he felt Lovecraft himself and pastiche writers censored or left out of the stories, such as the racism and sexual phobias. Moore explains: "Lovecraft was sexually squeamish; would only talk of ‘certain nameless rituals.’ Or he'd use some euphemism: ‘blasphemous rites.’ It was pretty obvious, given that a lot of his stories detailed the inhuman offspring of these ‘blasphemous rituals’ that sex was probably involved somewhere along the line. But that never used to feature in Lovecraft's stories, except as a kind of suggested undercurrent. So I thought, let's put all of the unpleasant racial stuff back in, let's put sex back in. Let's come up with some genuinely ‘nameless rituals’: let's give them a name."
Collected editions
The series was collected into a
single volume, available in both hardcover and softcover. Both versions include the coloured edition of ''
The Courtyard''.
*''Neonomicon'' (176 pages, hardcover, November 2011, )
*''Neonomicon'' (176 pages, paperback, November 2011, )
References
External links
*
Neonomicon' at Avatar Press
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Reviews
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{{Alan Moore, type=comic
Metafictional comics
Rape in fiction
Comics set in Massachusetts
Comics set in New York City
Comics by Alan Moore