Providence (Avatar Press)

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This article is about the comics series. For the Marvel location, see
Providence (Marvel Comics)
.
Providence
Providence #1 cover, by Jacen Burrows
Publication information
PublisherAvatar Press
FormatLimited series
Genre
Publication dateMay 2015 – April 2017
No. of issues12 (of 12)
Creative team
Created by
ISBN 1592912818

Providence is a twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Jacen Burrows,[1] published by American company Avatar Press from 2015 to 2017. The story is both a prequel and sequel to Moore's previous stories Neonomicon and The Courtyard, and continues exploring H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.[2][3]

Synopsis

The series is set in 1919 and centres on Robert Black, a homosexual

Jewish writer, initially working in New York as a reporter for the New York Herald. Black takes a leave of absence from his journalism career, with the intention of writing a Great American Novel using "the “Outsiders”, perhaps “occult Outsiders”—whom he is on the trail of across New England—as a metaphor for social outsiders".[4]

Plot

I: The Yellow Sign

Robert Black, a reporter for the

Sous Le Monde, which is rumoured to drive its readers insane. Robert visits one Doctor Alvarez, who once wrote an essay on the subject. Arriving at Alvarez's tenement, the door is answered by his landlady and lover, Mrs. Ortega, who shows him upstairs. In Alvarez's heavily air-conditioned apartment, Robert learns that the book mentions "an early Arab alchemical text" known as Kitab Al-Hikmah Al-Najmiyya ("The Book of Starry Wisdom"), which describes methods of prolonging life. He also learns that Alvarez was provided with a transcript by a man called Suydam. Feeling inspired and intrigued by this story, Robert returns to his office, where he learns that his jilted gay lover, Jonathan, has committed suicide in one of New York's Lethal Chambers
.

II: The Hook

Inspired to write his novel, Robert goes on sabbatical from the Herald and heads to

Flatbush in search of Suydam. Mr. Posey puts him in touch with Detective Tom Malone, who shows him the church where Suydam lectures on occult philosophy. As they stake out the churchyard where Suydam often walks, Malone makes it clear that he's attracted to Robert. Suydam appears, cutting their conversation short, and Robert introduces himself as an occult scholar. Suydam invites Robert to his home to sell him some of his pamphlets and tells him more about the Kitab, a copy of which is held by his suppliers in Salem, Massachusetts. When Suydam is called away, Robert sneaks into his basement and finds a vast sea cave containing a golden totem and human remains. He is attacked by a glowing female monster
and flees, only to lose consciousness. Robert wakes up to find Suydam standing over him. He goes on his way, determined to investigate further.

III: A Lurking Fear

Upon arriving in Salem, Robert checks in at the

swastikas, gas chambers and fish people. He checks out the next day and leaves town by bus, noting that the other passengers all look like fish-human hybrids
.

IV: White Apes

Robert gets his hair cut in

albino daughter, Leticia, and semi-human grandson, Willard. Willard takes an instant dislike to Robert, having perceived that Robert is "aht uv a diff'run' story awlduhgethuh
". He leaves Robert in his shed and, unbeknownst to Robert, intends to feed him to his invisible monster brother. Aware of Robert's danger, Wheatley sees him off the property and warns him not to cut across the fields on his way back to town.

V: In The Walls

Robert gets a ride with a Mr. Jenkins to

rat-like version of Mr. Jenkins. He packs his bags and goes to Hector North's house, unaware of his new danger.

VI: Out Of Time

Robert wakes from bad dreams, and James cooks breakfast for him and Hector. James and Hector argue over Hector's desire to kill Robert and reanimate him, but Robert mistakes their bickering for James being sexually jealous. Elspeth delivers a message from the college to their front door, which alarms James and Hector enough that they pack and leave town immediately. Elspeth walks Robert back to the college and suggests they meet again later. Father Race takes Robert to meet Dr. Henry Wantage, who guides him to the library and shows him a photograph of the members of Stella Sapiente, which includes the late Edgar Wade, Elspeth's father. Robert reads the Kitab, and his perception of time becomes distorted. He parts company with Wantage and finds Elspeth waiting for him. She takes him back to her lodgings, where the Being that possesses Elspeth swaps bodies with Robert and rapes him in Elspeth's body. Afterward, the Being swaps bodies back again and "Elspeth" sends a traumatized Robert on his way. Running through the rain, a car passes Robert in which he can see Mr. Jenkins driving him into Manchester for the first time.

VII: The Picture

Robert finds himself in the middle of a riot during the

dark room
and develops a photograph of three ghouls posing with the dead body of O'Brien.

VIII: The Key

Robert has spent several weeks staying with Randall Carver discussing the relationship between

Lord Dunsany as its guest speaker. To Robert's delight, one of the other attendees is none other than Lovecraft himself. The unwitting Robert introduces himself to Lovecraft, and it becomes ominously apparent that their meeting has been pre-ordained by dark forces
.

IX: Outsiders

Robert arrives in

meteorite that fell to Earth in Manchester
. Howard seduces Robert, and they have sex while looking into the alien stone. Afterwards, Robert calls on Lovecraft at his home. Lovecraft helps Robert find lodgings, and then Robert accompanies him to visit his mother in the mental hospital. Robert waits while Lovecraft sees his mother and pretends not to overhear their exchange. Lovecraft rejoins him and they depart. Lovecraft's mother looks on after them and sees the same weird creatures in the air that Annesley does through his spectacles.

X: The Haunted Palace

Robert and Lovecraft discuss how Lord Dunsany and Edgar Allan Poe influenced Lovecraft's early work, and Lovecraft admits that reading about Robert's strange experiences in his commonplace book has inspired him further. Robert's liking for Lovecraft evaporates when he expresses both his homophobia and antisemitism, and soon realizes that the unwitting Lovecraft's father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, and maternal grandfather, Whipple Van Buren Phillips, were both members of Stella Sapiente. Believing that Lovecraft has been ordained by the occult group to be their 'Redeemer', Robert panics and returns to his lodgings. He writes a letter to Tom Malone, in which he warns him about everything he has discovered on his travels, unaware that the steeple window of St. John's Church appears to be getting nearer and nearer his own. Suddenly, Johnny Carcosa (an avatar of Nyarlathotep) appears in the room and confirms that Robert has helped to fulfill a prophecy in which Lovecraft's stories will bring about the apocalypse. In gratitude, Carcosa kneels before Robert and fellates him.

XI: The Unnameable

Robert takes the train back to New York and mails the letter to Malone before going to commit suicide in the same Lethal Chamber as his former lover, Jonathan. Lovecraft's career gains momentum and all his stories merge with reality: Malone goes mad after the events of

plushies go on sale. Then the events of The Courtyard and Neonomicon come to pass... and then the Cthulian apocalypse
begins.

XII: The Book

At the

Great Race of Yith and Lovecraftian scholar S. T. Joshi. In the sky above them floats Azathoth. Carcosa appears, and Brears goes into labour, giving birth to the infant Cthulhu. Carcosa sets the babe into the river as Brears, Perlman and Joshi look on from the bridge. Perlman wonders if there's anything in Robert's commonplace book that might help them reverse the situation, but Brears and Joshi are skeptical. As Shub-Niggurath
glides slowly towards the place where they're standing, Perlman rips the book in half and scatters its pages into the water.

Publication history

Alan Moore heavily researched the series; in a six-month period he acquired "nearly every book of [Lovecraft] criticism that’s been written".[2]

But what Providence is, is an attempt to write—at least, my attempt to write what I would consider to be a piece of ultimate Lovecraft fiction, in that it will be fiction, it will be a continuation of Neonomicon, it will in a sense be a prequel to that book, but it will also—slightly—be a sequel as well. It will be dealing with the world of Lovecraft’s American-based fiction[2]

Collected editions

The series is being collected into individual volumes:

Reception

The series has met with critical acclaim, holding an average score of 9.3 out of 10 at review aggregator website Comic Book Roundup.[5]

The first volume received a nomination for the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Alan Moore's Providence Revealed". Avatar Press. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. ^
    Comics Beat. Archived
    from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  3. ^ Talbot, Nick (31 August 2014). "All About Alienation: Alan Moore On Lovecraft And Providence". The Quietus. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Alan Moore Writes A Gay, Jewish Protagonist For Providence To Address Lovecraft's Prejudices". Bleeding Cool. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Providence". Comic Book Roundup. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  6. Bram Stoker Awards
    .

External links

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