H.P. Lovecraft’s monsters and dark gods have been fused with Doctor Dolittle and the result is Doctor Cthulittle, a tale of terror and whimsy from award-winning artist Mark Wheatley and author G.D. Falksen. The 64-page, full-color hardcover has launched Friday, October 13, 2017 (yes, Friday the 13th!), as a Kickstarter project.
It was immediately highlighted by the crowd-funding platform with their “projects we love” designation.
Doctor Cthulittle combines terror with wonder, action, adventure, and wry humor by blending Wheatley’s painting wizardry with Falksen’s prose on every page. The Doctor has learned all the languages of the Elder Gods, becoming the only being able to talk with the Old Ones who plan to unleash catastrophic events. With the help of his ghoul manservant, Farnsworth, and aviatrix Zenobia Bishop, Doctor Cthulittle travels through time and space to protect us.
“About four years ago, the concept came, as many do, from a pun I made when I started talking off the cuff about a character named Doctor Cthulittle,” Wheatley said. “Since at the time I had recently met and been impressed by G.D. Falksen and his series of novels, The Ouroboros Cycle, it seemed like we might be well suited to collaborate on this particular hybrid idea.”
The resulting collaboration saw the creators playing off each other’s work, with Falksen writing a scene, Wheatley illustrating it, and then both expanding on what they’d done. The fusion of prose and art forms a key aspect of the book, which uses illustration to emphasize the cosmic scale and visual grandeur of the Cthulhu mythos.
“I am very excited to be working on a project that explores the way that words and art can augment each other in storytelling,” Falksen said. “It’s similar to the use of art in old books and serials: the art gives a snapshot of the action, while the prose gives the art context and speeds it along. And when you’re dealing with the vastness of the cosmos, art helps show the incredible scale of things.”
The rewards offered start at $5 and run through $700. They include the Doctor Cthulittle hardcover print edition, an Arkham patch, alumni pin, mini art prints, hardcover copies of IS Art – The Art of Insight Studios, signed comics, an e-book, and a variety of custom digital downloads (including desktop wallpaper, Facebook wallpaper, Twitter wallpaper, an icon set and social media skins).
Higher end supporters who wish to pledge $700 or more can get exclusive original commissions from artist Mark Wheatley, most recently known for his run of Doctor Who covers for Titan and Stargate Atlantis covers for American Mythology, in addition to his long career of work published by Vertigo, IDW, and First Comics, among others.
“There are secrets in the vastness of space, monstrosities that lurk in the crevasses of time, ancients born before the dawn of mankind whose end will not come until long after the sun grows cold,” an excerpt from the book reads. “Merciful ignorance blinds us to these horrors and shelters our sanity from the darkness among the stars. Only one man dares to catalogue the whole truth of the cosmos, from its brightest revelations to its darkest occult secrets...”
Doctor Cthulittle promises to be a thrilling tale that explores the Cthulhu mythos in exciting new ways, harmoniously blending prose and illustration to capture both the majesty and the vastness of its world.
