1st Impression: ARCANE SECRETS - THE CURSE OF THE MOTTLED TENTACLE # 1

ARCANE SECRETS: THE CURSE OF THE MOTTLED TENTACLE # 1

Written by Angel A. Svoboda

Art by Angel A. Svoboda & Rafael Nieves
Amigo Comics

FLIPPING THROUGH:

            Our tale talks of our heroes Dr. Ment and Harry; two detectives that deal with the supernatural … many things deal with Cthulu and the like. Dr. Ment’s archenemy, the mob boss Salvatore Tamontti, sets lose a monster that once attacked by it will allow Salvatore to take over the victim’s mind; which is made obvious because suddently you grow plants on your head and body.

            Ment gets bitten so he sends in Harry after another tentacle monster to help ask someone by the name of Selma Pratchett for help; after Harry throws in said Selemite tentacle monster into the Unknown Zone. While in the Unknown Zone, Harry gets the help of a helioglobe named Elvis.  The two come back in time to go with Ment to see Selma. Meanwhile, Salvatore sends one of his most powerful men after someone else.

ART:

            I must admit; I was surprise. Svoboda’s art is nice and cartoon with an interesting versatility that makes monstrous things still look threatening while the overall cute factor is still there. The line work is nice and clean. The detail is simple yet distinct enough to tell who is who and what is what.
            Svoboda’s characters have a great style that can be mimicked for television show. The monsters in this were both gross and horrifying while still retaining a little bit of cute. Svoboda has some great backgrounds that work for the book; giving it a nice fusion of dark and mysterious with fun and adventurous.

WRITING:

            Svoboda does a great job in giving a packed story. The plot was easy to follow but did not insult your intelligence. The characters were definitely living up to cartoony or children’s show tropes but in a good way which made them entertaining. Svoboda creates a dynamic plot which ends up taking our heroes to interesting places … the Unknown Realm being one of them. The nods to Lovecraft and Cthuluian works were nicely sprinkled throughout the entire piece.
            Svoboda made Lovecraftian monsters fun but still somewhat scary … well, most of them anyway. It definitely will be something children can find entertaining.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:
           

            This was pretty good for a children’s book. It did not insult readers intelligence but definitely played to its demographic. It was interesting, multi-layered in story but still easy to follow. The characters were entertaining. The situations ridiculous and all fit for what I believe the book wanted.


RATING:

            It’s a fun book. Kids will love it. Adults, maybe not so much. But overall, a great book. I give Arcane Secrets: The Curse of the Mottled Tentacle # 1 an 8 out of 10.

           

UNDER THE NET # 6 - LOVECRAFT IS MISSING

Lovecraft is Missing

By Jake Estrada

Welcome to the sixth edition of Under the Net.

I will be rating the elements of the book on a scale of one through five.

One is poor, two is mediocre, three is fair, four is good, and five is excellent.

This week’s web comic is Lovecraft is Missing. It is a web comic series that is updated about twice a week. It was created by Larry Latham who has worked on this series for quite a while. The creator had visions for this series to be a cartoon and even had the idea picked up by some serious studios. Of course as time has lapsed on these properties, the options returned to the creator. The book is a heavy dose of pulp meets horror and suspense. It is beautifully illustrated and it has a great narrative voice that conveys an epic storyline that continues to capture readers on a daily basis. If you haven’t checked out the title, you should swing by and read it for yourself. I also love the feel of the art. It reminds me of some classic Sunday funnies style artwork. I give my props to the creator.

Let me get to the breakdown of the book and its elements.

The Art

The art style is nice; you can see how it has a very cartoony feel to it. It has an almost Tintin style to it, but it is very detailed and it helps move the story nicely. When Larry Latham draws in this style, you can see each detail on the buildings and how painstakingly each line is placed. It is beautifully illustrated, and it captures the time period very well. You can feel the raw emotion his art creates, and it gives it its own unique blend of pulp.  I love that the artist has embraced the modern age and draws directly into Photoshop and does the colors digitally. The colors are very warm, and it helps feed the mood of the story at times, depending where the hero and heroine of the story are located. I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures just as much as I did the written story.

ART: 4 STARS

The Writing

Well, I have read from first page to last, and I must say that the writing is very good. I love how it starts with the character Orwin and goes from Nan to Howard, in an attempt to delve into the mystery of the story. I enjoy that it is a period piece, and it continues to move with this mysterious disappearance of Howard and who is involved. It has that classic pulp thriller feel to it, and this was the intention of the creator. It is obvious that the creator has put a lot of thought into this, as it had intentions of being a cartoon and it sat around on different studio shelves before the creator decided to bring it to the masses himself as a web comic. Thankfully, he did not let it rot on the vine.

WRITING:  4 STARS

Originality         

The story is original to say the least. This book is a period piece set within the confines of a Lovecraft story. I love how the author/creator took this book by the horns and added his own unique mix to it. I also love thinking that how the people transform reminded me of a John Carpenter movie, The Thing. There is a scene where they are meeting with a gentleman, and he transforms into this horrific monster.

This is a comic that is fun. It is a mystery and a horror story mixed together that gives you a very good story, and it keeps making you come back to check it out. I liked how we saw a few things like how the guy cut his hand off, and he was able to form a new one. I also liked how the guy suddenly turned into a nasty monster. I will say that the author knows how to show the reader that he is not afraid to shake things up a bit if he must and do it by pulling the wool over your eyes. I loved his touch when it came to pulling the reader in and then throwing you into this dark, twisted world.

ORIGINALITY: 5 STARS.

 

Grand Total: 4.3 Stars

The Pros

The creator of the comic has a good sense of page design, knows how to draw in the reader, and build the suspense until it erupts in mayhem. It’s nice when a creator can slowly flesh out his characters, show us their motivations, what they want to do with their lives, and then throw them against the impossible odds and have you root for them and hope they make it out alive. You can feel the raw emotion, and Larry Latham knows how to do this with a masterful grace.

The Cons

There was really no issue with the comic. There were a few panels where the lettering got really small at times, and that forced me to turn the percentage of the page up to 300%, but that only happened about six or seven times. If the book is printed, the text will be hard to read. However, that is just a minor thing. This book is simply amazing.

My Final Word

If you like drama, action, suspense, horror, and mystery then you should give this book a chance. It has a unique blend of humor and horror to make you want to read more and the creator of this series is having fun. It shows.

The comic updates regularly at:

http://lovecraftismissing.com/

Enjoy folks!

Jake Estrada

Email me at estradajake@yahoo.com for website suggestions. Thanks.

Jake Estrada is a published author who holds degrees in Multimedia Design and Criminal Justice. He is a father to three wonderful children and married to his beautiful wife, Beth. You can find his comics at http://graphicly.com/estrada-mediaand other fine online stores.