Doctor Cthulittle

As regular Scoop readers know, during the disruption caused by the COVID-19 virus, we’ve featured reviews of individual back issues, runs, collected editions, and original graphic novels that captured and held our attention over the long haul. Now that “new comics Wednesday” has returned in some form for many around the country, we’ve decided to continue including great older comics among our features. Remember, once your store is open, checking out their back issue bins is a great way to #BackTheComeback.

Doctor Cthulittle
Insight Studios Group; $50 

Doctor Cthulittle is a scholar who knows secrets about our world and what’s beyond it – namely that there are elder gods between space and time. He travels through the cosmos with the pilot Zenobia Bishop and a ghoul-manservant named Farnsworth. A dream premonition warns Doctor Cthulittle that the cosmic god Azathoth is about to awaken, and possibly destroy reality. The trio head out into space to lull Azathoth back to sleep and protect our existence. Of course, they run into some complications on the way, all of which makes the story more interesting.

Doctor Cthulittle, by G.D. Falksen and Mark Wheatley, is a gorgeous illustrated book, that’s an homage to H.P. Lovecraft with a bit of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine in a steampunk, science fiction, fantasy mashup. The story itself reads like a fairy tale, pulling the reader in to the level of imagination we lose track of as adults.

The artwork is incredible. Each page of the oversized book is a complete painting with inventive landscapes and frightening creatures. Structurally, each page is different with wide establishing shots to show the grandness of the adventure and closes-ups with expressive pull. The extensive color choices further accentuate the level of effort that went into making this a truly creative book. It’d be a great gift for anyone who likes imagination in their adventures. 

–Amanda Sheriff