Overview

Written in 1928, H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu defined the ancient gods as dark creatures who came from the stars and ruled the world before mankind. When these ancient ones awaken, humanity is plagued by a nightmare of terrors etched upon an epic backdrop. The author’s concept deeply redefined the horror story with this thrilling, dense mystery that spawned a virtual genre. The artist Gary Gianni and designer Marcelo Anciano both felt that Lovecraft’s short story presented an opportunity to visually expand the Cthulhu Mythos and push the boundaries of illustrated books. Intense and fast-paced, the tale enabled them to explore graphic storytelling and illustrate the text in a unique way. It was a personal project for Gianni, who drew upon his decades of experience in illustrating numerous books and graphic novels. The Call of Cthulhu, as illustrated by Gary Gianni, is a fusion of cinematic design, the graphic novel and illustrated books. Over a hundred finished pencil drawings with color pieces enhance and bring to life the work of two visionaries—Lovecraft and Gianni—in an extraordinary feat of storytelling and art.

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9781640410527

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Howard Phillips Lovecraft was responsible for creating the Cthulhu Mythos, a cycle of loosely related stories concerning “the Great Ones.” These are cosmic beings who took up residence on Earth long before humans inhabited the planet. Now they awaken to wreak havoc upon mankind. Born in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft was a sickly child whose parents died insane. When he was 16, he wrote the astronomy column in the Providence Tribune. Between 1908 and 1923, he wrote short stories for Weird Tales magazine, among others. He died in Providence—in poverty—on March 15, 1937. After his death, his colleagues August Derleth and Donald Wandrei collected Lovecraft’s stories and made arrangement for their publication. These writings have had a great impact on modern popular culture and have influenced and inspired many other writers, including Robert E. Howard, Clive Barker, Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. Gary Gianni began as an illustrator for Chicago newspapers and as a reporter/sketch artist for television. He has illustrated books by authors ranging from Melville and Verne to Michael Chabon and Ray Bradbury. Gianni spent several years illustrating the stories of Conan, Solomon Kane and Bran Mak Morn in a series of books by R.E. Howard. In comics, he worked on Batman, The Shadow, Hellboy and his own creation, Monstermen. For almost a decade, he produced the syndicated newspaper comic strip Prince Valiant. Gianni also created drawings and paintings for George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire epic novels. Currently he is finishing the illustrations for Neil Gaiman’s Death and Honey. Marcelo Anciano has been producing limited-edition books for decades. He was pivotal in instigating the current fashion of small press books with Wandering Star publications and the Robert E. Howard library of classics, reprinted as trade paperbacks by DelRey/Random House and translated worldwide. Authors like George R.R. Martin and Neil Gaiman and artists like Gary Gianni and Greg Manchess have asked Anciano to design fine editions of their work. During the formation of the music videos during in the 1980s, Anciano directed over 100 music videos and commercials. For a decade, he worked with talents as diverse as Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, Little Richard and Arnold Schwarzenegger, often designing their visual look and marketing. He also has produced and written a number of feature films—including Modesty Blaise, Solomon Kane and Semana Santa—but his passion has always been fine books. Anciano notes that his collection of books actually has caused his house to become destabilized.

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