Providence #3

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Jacen Burrows on Alan Moore's Neonomicon – Avatar Interview of the Week". Bleeding Cool. 7 June 2010 . Retrieved 22 March 2011.

Times Square” is a bustling major destination intersection in mid-Manhattan – and, at the time, a neighborhood where homosexuals lived openly – see P9,p2 Moore quote above. First appearance of Mrs. Ortega, Providence‘s equivalent for the Spanish landlady Mrs. Herrero of Lovecraft’s story “Cool Air.”But how does this power of language—for both good and bad—play out in the conclusion of Providence? And how does it support my claim that Providence is somehow a metaphor for Moore’s career in comics? There are symbols or letters worked into the design along the bottom of the bookplate that are ambiguous: A? N? +? R? M? F? Ghoulish,”“[inducing] goose-bumps” and “a real stiff” are all apt descriptions for the eerie Dr. Muñoz in “Cool Air”. As with a number of things in Providence, there is ambiguity with double meanings. Goose bumps could be from cold air, or the eerieness of an animated corpse. A real stiff could be a dead person, or someone live who’s really dull.

But let’s quote that bare-bones plot summary again: “An author is inspired by an already-extant set of characters and relationships to write his own version of the material, adding his own formal innovations and narrative twists. The result is unexpected success and influence.” Doesn’t this describe Moore’s career as much as Lovecraft’s? Moore is perhaps best known for his new spins on established characters and franchises; examples include Swamp Thing, the Charlton Action Heroes, and what Michael Kupperman might call “the League of Appropriated Characters,” the public domain icons (The Invisible Man, Mr. Hyde, the Lost Girls, Cthulhu) that dominate Moore’s recent work. From Michael Kupperman's TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE #2 (2006). Finally, if you can handle this novel I recommend reading Neonomicon before chapter 12. It bridges the gap between that and chapter 11. Neonomicon dials up the "yikes" factor to 11 in what happens to 1 character (be warned!), and is much weaker of a story overall but it is improved a lot by being fit into the broader story arc of Providence (as prequel-sequel).

It’s probably just faithfulness to the original text, but Burrows’ Alvarez bears some resemblance to Bernie Wrightston’s Muñoz in the 1975 adaptation of “Cool Air” published in Eerie #62. Alan Moore heavily researched the series; in a six-month period he acquired "nearly every book of [Lovecraft] criticism that’s been written". [2] Also, and this is very obvious too, but not noted anywhere, the tree on the cover, and its shadow, are very suggestive of tentacles, and what could be more Lovecraftian? Burrows and Moore employ “rotating shots,” with the perspective shifting as each panel is from a different part of the room, framing the characters movements and body language relevant to each other. This street view should be easy to nail down (hardware, hat shop, H&H, hotel – all Hs?), but we haven’t been able to find it. It should be between Herald Square and Madison Square which are connected by Broadway… but the scale looks more like an east-west street, than Broadway?

I've just finished doing a deep read of Providence and I wanted to share my method. This list would not have been possible without Facts in the Case of Alan Moore's Providence (which I also read after every issue and recommend as well). If anyone sees something I missed, please point it out! Cool Air” mentions Muñoz’ interest in precious books: “the unconventional and astonishingly ancient volumes on his [Dr. Muñoz’] shelves.” When Brears’ situation becomes even more horrible in the Beeks’ torture pool, Moore makes provocative creative choices when representing her victimization. As she is raped, Brears passes out, but even her dreams have been colonized: she envisions herself naked in a Lovecraftian city, as Johnny Carcosa strolls into her subconscious, speaks with her, and kisses her. In a curiously affectless tone, Brears seems to eroticize the rape as she describes her plight to Carcosa: The Yellow Book spine designs by Aubrey Beardsley, from P33 of Alan Moore’s 25,000 Years of Erotic Freedom

Alan Moore's Showcase of True Horror

The other two methods are not named here, but it willbe no surprise that one of them turns out to be preservation through cold – as in “Cool Air”. The methods are explained a bit more fully in Providence #2, P11.p4, and we see some of what the Kitab has to say about them in Providence #6, P38. Poe’s Mr. Valdemar” refers to Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 short story “ The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” involved a man who was hypnotized into surviving after he was dead; it was an obvious influence on Lovecraft’s “Cool Air.” Commenter David Milne points out that “Book of the Wisdom of the Stars” sounds like The Starry Wisdom, the name of the Lovecraft-inspired compilation where Alan Moore’s story The Courtyard first appeared. That book title referenced a fictional cult of worshipers of Nyarlathotep, the “Church of Starry Wisdom” which appears in Lovecraft’s story “The Haunter of the Dark.” More generally, the title would also apply to real-world Arabic works of astrology like the Picatrix, which may have inspired Lovecraft’s Necronomicon. Khalid Ibn Yazid” is Moore’s invention, not to be confused with Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shaybani who would have lived a century later. As becomes clearer in later issues, Khalid Ibn Yazid is Providence’s analogue for Lovecraft’s “mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred author of the dreaded Necronomicon. As mentioned above (P3,p2) the pneumatic message tube system apparatus is visible between Dix and Turner.