It’s time for a Webcomic of the Week post, which pretty much means this installment is long overdue, as they so frequently are. Surprise?
Recognize the text in these panels? It’s a comic adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Beast in the Cave! Huzzah! I’m a firm believer in the nonexistent old aphorism, “more Lovecraft is better Lovecraft,” so Jason B. Thompson’s webcomic adaptations of Lovecraft’s weird fiction are welcome blessings from the Great Old Ones.
Thompson is an Eisner-nominated artist whose forte is manga, so obviously I like him (he actually authored a very comprehensive manga reference book called Manga: The Complete Guide), but his primary efforts to adapt Lovecraftian lore center on the author’s Dream Cycle. While this story is not a part of the Dream Cycle, it was definitely one of my favorite Lovecraft short stories. Ipso facto, it is also my favorite of Thompson’s webcomics. 
At only 8 pages, The Beast in the Cave is certainly a quickie (the original story is only about 2400 words), but it will stay with you for much longer. Anyone who’s gone on a cave tour or been spelunking may be aware of how unsettling closed spaces in absolute darkness can be. The Mammoth Cave system in northern Kentucky, where the story is set, is bewildering enough without Lovecraft’s imagery–or Thompson’s images–instilling an even greater sense of helplessness in would-be subterranean adventurers. Yikes.
Check out this and other H.P. Lovecraft webcomic adaptations by Jason Thompson at his site, Mockman Press. There’s lots of terrifically creepy stuff to peruse, including his original horror webcomic, The Stiff, which will definitely get its own Webcomic of the Week feature one o’ these days. Enjoy!
Images from Mockman Press.
