Despite having a - very selective - interest in good science fiction and horror movies, I never read anything by HP Lovecraft, one of the fathers of science fiction horror writing. The story "On The Mountains Of Madness" dates back to 1931, and gives the report by one of the scientists participating in an antarctic expedition, and discovering an ancient civilization that actually largely predates even mammal evolution.
The novella is reprinted here in its full length - this is not really a graphic novel in the strictest sense - and illustrated with the spectacular drawings by French artist François Baranger, who is a concept designer for movies and games. When my wife first saw the drawings from a distance, she thought they were photographs, and I think that is not only because of the detail of the drawings, but also because of the amazing play with light, darkness and shadows.
It reflects the story well in that respect. The Antarctic expedition ventures in this world of light with ice and snow landscapes with a sun that does not set, with a scientific mindset that is all for observation and academic clarity and that is suddenly confronted with the impossible, with the irrational, with darkness, mystery, evil and death.
As said, it is the first time I read anything by Lovecraft and I understand now what the attraction is. The novella is written in the first person, as a journal or report of a scientific expedition that nobody will believe. Lovecraft's style is at the same time full of scientific facts, and minute observations (biology, physics, meteorology, archeology, architecture, ...) while at the same time full of subjective emotions about what he and his colleagues are witnessing, ranging from admiration, wonder, suprise, dread and existential angst. The ancient creatures they encounter are referenced from the mythology that Lovecraft created in other novels before this one.
The most stunning feature of his writing is his capacity to create a universe without so much as a plot. Nothing much happens, apart from encountering something that defies reason. At the same time, your eyes can relish the fantastic drawings, whose lines of inspiration are each time written in italic in the text, so that you know what it actually refers to (although that is not so difficult to assess).
Both the writing and the illustrations together make this an unforgettable reading experience.
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