H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness vol. 2

Mangaka Gou Tanabe’s art is once again the major selling point for the second half of his adaptation of Lovecraft’s novel.  Whether he’s drawing carvings of the history of the Great Old Ones, or actually showing it to us, or displaying two men of science fleeing for their lives in abject terror, there’s a confidence to it that draws you in.  It allows Tanabe to create an air of sustained dread from the start of the volume as Dyer and Danforth fly into the Antarctic ruins and uncover the history of a civilization that’s unknown, and to a certain extent unknowable to them.  This is in addition to displaying some amazing sights of the ruins and of wars between inhuman beings that still manage to come across as epic even with the volume’s compact trim size.

As for the story, it doesn’t really sustain the feeling of “Don’t go in there!” from the first volume as well as it does the dread.  It’s not for lack of trying as Dyer and Danforth fit snugly into their respective roles as the Guy Who Wants to Keep Going and the Guy Who Wants to Turn Back.  All the way until all hell breaks loose the bottom of the ruins. After that, well… I don’t think I can hold how the story ends against Tanabe since he’s working from Lovecraft’s novel.  It’s just that it lacks the burst of knife-twist nihilism, the dawning feeling that all hope is lost which drive the best horror endings in my opinion. Things just kind of peter out here on a note of general unease.

Overall, this adaptation wasn’t bad for what it is, and it’s probably worth a look just to appreciate Tanabe’s incredible art.  It’s also one more reminder that I’d probably be better served by reading Lovecraft’s original story than by subsisting on these adaptations.