Neonomicon

I decided to buy the first issue of Neonomicon based on two things: it's written by Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell), and it was described to me by the friendly comic book store folk as "making Lovecraft creepy again". I'm as much as a sucker for the glut of cutesy Cthulhu tat that's taken over shelves in recent years as any other nerd, but it can make it hard to take some of the mythos seriously. If the entire point of Cthulhu is to be far beyond human understanding, seeing him as a 4" plush kinda messes that up.

With Neonomicon, Moore takes the Lovecraftian setting, gives it his own twist and dumps a whole load of sex on top - something Lovecraft himself was always "squeamish" about, to use Moore's phrasing. It works, and works well, managing to give the whole thing a very adult feel whilst refraining from becoming gratuitous. Which is impressive, considering quite how much sex and violence, often combined, there is. It's really no exaggeration to say the story revolves around sex, and perhaps this is why it never feels unnecessary - it's an integral part of the tale, not played for cheap thrills. It's also normally so dark as to not come within miles of being arousing.

Somehow Moore manages to cram into four issues what would take most writers far more, giving proceedings a fast paced feeling and meaning a lot of stuff happens in every issue - something that far too often can't be said about comic series. I won't spoil the ending, but will say it left me grinning from ear to ear. Moore's signature dark wit and fantastic storytelling ability shine through.

The art, by Jacen Burrows, is of the fairly standard American comic book style, but very much at the high end of that scale. The matter of fact, realistic style presents proceedings in a clinical way that manages to make them even more harrowing and impactful.

The story is a sequel to Moore's short story The Courtyard, but is totally standalone - I've not read the short story and didn't feel at any point that I should have. I do, however, now very much want to seek it out. It's also available in comic form, again with art by Burrows.

A collected edition is released next month by Avatar Press, and comes highly recommended if you're a fan of dark, gritty, sexually loaded stories involving FBI agents, tentacles and lots of blood. And who isn't?