Kidnappers hole up with victims at cabin by remote Canadian lake. All must band together when stalked by remnant prehistoric giant killer otters.
Yeah, otters are cute. Unless you’re something they want to eat. Then they’re just like any other toothy instrument of death and disembowelment.
Are there giant prehistoric otters lurking in remote Canadian lakes? Probably not. If you’ve got a problem with that you could always make them kushtaka or a Canadian version of Jenny Greenteeth.
Here is the second of the background photos that are part of one of my illustrations for the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion monograph to benefit Yog-Sothoth.com. All of the photos feature Jackson Elias, a major NPC in Masks. Jackson is the gentleman with the pencil mustache and the pipe.
Yog-Sothoth.com is a fansite for the Call of Cthulhu RPG. A while back, before I got frustrated with Chaosium’s abysmal payment policy, I was asked to contribute a couple of illustrations to their Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion monograph. I did two full page illustrations. Hopefully the monograph will be completed soon and I’ll be able to direct your attention to it.
In the meantime I’m posting some aspects of one of the illustrations. These may appear individually in different parts of the monograph but they created to be part of one of the full page illustrations. The illustration in question is the desktop of Jackson Elias, an important Non-Player Character in the game. A number of photos of Mr. Elias are part of the clutter on the desktop. Above is one of those “photos”.
Coming soon from Aklo Press.
I sketched up this Wild Thing at the same time I sketched up yesterday’s. When I inked that one I inked this one as well. And then I colored them both. Rarrrh!
I drew the original pencil sketch for this illustration sometime last year. I’d seen the blog Terrible Yellow Eyes too late to contribute but I was inspired to sketch up a couple of the Wild Things. Earlier this month I was organizing my drawing area and I decide to ink the sketch. Once inked it was easy enough to add color and here it is.
Warren Ellis is no longer the master of the Whitechapel Forums but some traditions remain. This is my contribution to the recent Remake/Remodel challenge – the Crimson Clown. I’d hoped to make a more detailed contribution but time and other projects make me keep it simple. Now that my internship is finished I’m intending to contribute more regularly. It’s good practice to execute an idea as quickly and simply as possible.
Finally, here’s Detritus. Over the years I’ve imagined different names for him but none of them have stuck yet. Perhaps, if I ever do another series with him as a character, I’ll find one that does.
It felt good to draw the gang again. It’s always fun to hang out with old friends.
Public Domain Rewrite Challenge – The Monster Men
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote The Monster Men in 1913. The basic plot is “Scientist, trying to create a mate for his daughter, creates 13 monsters instead. The 13th monster, fortunately, looks like a handsome, giant man. Pirates attack and kidnap the daughter. Number 13 rallies the other monsters to rescue her. Much running around in the jungle ensues.”
With a plot like that you might expect the story to be all kinds of awesome, right?
Not so much. Burroughs wrote a LOT of stories. This is one that could have used another draft. Or two.
Public Domain Rewrite Challenge – The Call of Cthulhu
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with redoing a favorite story if you can bring something new to it. Shakespeare? The Greatest Writer in the English Language? None of his stories are original. They are all based on previous works or historic events. I’m not a great fan of his writing, in large part because the version of English in which he wrote is not the language that I speak, but even his admirers wouldn’t try to pass him off as an original plotter.
I think most of HP Lovecraft’s writings are fine as they are. A rewrite or a modernization is unlikely to improve on them. I think Call of Cthulhu, however, has more potential than most of his other stories. The narrator isn’t actually involved in any of the events of the story. He’s the guy who puts all the pieces together but he didn’t witness any of the incidents. Cthulhu’s cult is a world wide organization (kinda sorta). The rising of R’Lyeh has world wide repercussions. So there’s potential for a few different accounts of the same events.
And yes, I know that Lovecraft’s stories have sparked their own sub-genre of horror and fantasy. I’ve read and enjoyed quite a bit of it. I’ve read revisions and sequels to a lot of his other stories but Call is one that I’ve seen any new versions of.
