The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (Sci-Fi & Horror - SelfMadeHero)

The biggest challenge, it would seem to me, of adapting Lovecraft's work to any visual medium is the strength of HPL's work is the way it encourages your (the reader's) imagination to run wild filling in the blanks. When you are presenting his stories IN a visual medium, you are bound, to one extent or another, to fill in the blanks FOR the reader. Lovecraft's monsters are terrifying against the backs of your eyelids; printed on the page (or on a movie screen), generally not so much.Charles Dexter Ward circumvents a lot of that problem in that the action mostly takes place off the page. Only one monster shows up here and it is kind of perfunctory and less than, well, terrifying, but the story does not need it to be. It only needs it to be, if not shuddersome, then just kind of funky and strange, and it is good enough. The challenge here is making a very talking story lively through the illustrations and that is pulled off pretty successfully. The art here, as in his previous At the Mountain of Madness, are stylized and very restrained. They do a nice job of drawing you in to a lot of fairly static locations, but their style works for them, as does the muted color palate. The atmosphere is slightly unsettling without every becoming melodramatic or lurid - far from it, in fact.This is a nice way to revisit TCCDW. I am not sure how I would feel about using this to introduce HPL to a new reader. Young readers, perhaps, who might find Lovecraft's language dense and difficult, but again - the great strength of HPL's work is the way it worms itself into your head. But for those looking to enjoy the story in a new setting, as it were, this is a most enjoyable visit.

A great a conversion to visual media as perhaps can be for a book that relies mainly on suggestion to describe the indescribable. For the most part the artwork is excellent; well-drawn, and entirely appropriate for the subject matter. The writing is abridged by necessity, since the story requires a lot of background material to make sense. The chief reason I didn't give this a five was that the writing and artwork occasionally fumble on big "money shots." Doctor Bicknell's brief glance at a horrifying monster and the appearance of a thing from beyond the spheres in the farm raid scene drove the participants nearly insane in Lovecraft's book. But these cosmic terrors evoke little but momentary consternation from the characters in this adaptation, which is disappointing. Aside from that, this graphic novel is well worth the price and a fine addition to any Lovecraft library.

I had recently read the novella and really wanted to see how someone else envisioned the visuals (the colonial period events, the pits, the rituals etc.)I also watched the film adaption, The Resurrected. Though a bit dated has some amazing visuals and scenes.Anyway-back to the graphic novel. Though beautifully illustrated and written, I found it to be just page after page of people having conversations about the action, rather than illustrating it. I was left, visualizing the action being discussed in conversation for myself...again.

Overall, this is one of the better graphic adaptations of Lovecraft's work. The artist really does capture the gist of the story well.There always are a few caveats. For one thing, due to the length of the original story, a lot has to be left out or skimmed over - or this book would have to be a foot or so thick. For example, the classic scene of Ward returning to Providence from his European trip is entirely left out, and much of the dramatic impact of Willet's adventures in Curwen's underground crypt is lost for being glossed over. And the attempts to depict the horrors in their pits was lacking in effect.The artwork does have a certain resonance with the story, but, personally, I would have preferred a more detailed, realistic style. Those "vast avenues of sphinxes" would have made a great scene!

Culbard is a true master at these adaptations of weird fiction (including the King in Yellow). He hits all the notes in this version of the story of Charles Dexter award and hits them perfectly. For those who've longed for excellent graphic retellings of Lovecraft stories, look to Culbard's works and no further.

This is the second Lovecraft graphic novel adaptation I’ve bought by Culbard. His take on “At the Mountains of Madness” is excellent but it was not re-created with this work. Dr. Willet’s exploration of Curwen’s catacombs was beyond disappointing. I almost had to put the graphic novel down after that section.

Culbard is a competent collaborator and illustrator, but the artwork fails at some key moment to the story, both during the initial assault on Curwin's farm and then again during Dr. Willet's exploration of the catacombs (especially his bizarre choice in depicting materia #118). The adaptation is also far too short, and would easily have benefited from being longer.

This graphic novel is Lovecraft just the way you visualized him. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is one of his top stories, and Culbard gets it just right. It is mostly just as was written with only minor changes. You won't want to read this just once.

Very much holds to its original text, without Lovecraft's sometimes hysterical descriptions and turn of phrase. Love the line and colour of the illustrations.

Great artwork even better story telling for a graphic gets right into the spirit of the Lovecraftian world. This is the 2nd graphic novel I have got in this series. Even better than The Mountains Of Madness. I would recommend these to any fan of Lovecraft. Can't wait to read the next one.

Great Read

Well recommended. Great item and breand new. Great addition to anyones collection. A must for any avid fans. Worth it.

This is my first time reading a H.P Lovecraft book so I didn't expect it to be good but boy was I wrong. I would recommend to any darren shan fan or any other horror book fan.