Allan Moore's PROVIDENCE

So, my nomination of issue #1 of Providence didn't succeed in the Deep Ones, but the second issue is out now, and I figured it would be worth opening a thread to discuss the series. Surely I'm not the only one reading it, right?

I've really been pleased with it so far. The first issue was perhaps too subtle for its own good. Even though Moore made everything plain in the diary manuscript at the end (and I was able to figure it out from just the comics pages), many readers who have gotten used to disregarding the prose addenda to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen might well miss those reinforcing disclosures.

I have them on the table, but probably won't get to them for a couple of weeks.

But, yes, I think a discussion would be interesting even if I may not have much to contribute.

I picked up issue #2 today. Should have #1 next week. More soon.

I just bought #3 yesterday and haven't read it yet. I thought the first two were both amazing. People who are staying away because of the "squick factor" in Neonomicon are definitely missing out here.

>4 wochniat:, >5 paradoxosalpha:

I agree. This is REALLY good weird fiction only two issues in. I like the literary obsessions that the characters seem to share, along with the story's relationship with "Cool Air", Robert Chambers, etc. I think I read somewhere that Moore wanted to respond to HPL's awful NYC experience and I was a bit worried that this would just be an obvious tirade. It's not (so far). I'm definitely liking it far more than Neonomicon. Good to know that issue 3 is out. I'll try to pick it up this weekend.

Found a site with issue-by-issue annotations:

https://factsprovidence.wordpress.com/moore-lovecraft-comics-annotation-index/pr...

>8 gwendetenebre:

Yeah, I read their notes on the first issue after I'd digested it myself. They are pretty thorough.

I'm still working my way through the end matter of number 3!

Interview with Moore:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/08/31/lovecraft-never-said-that-his-entities-we...

Have read the first four issues over the course of the last 24 hours. Absolutely gibbering with enthusiasm.Love the fact that he's gone straight for the most uncomfortable bits of HPL's legacy. (Bringing in some of the more obscure and neglected stories too!)

I just finished reading issue #4 ("White Apes"). In the earlier issues, I found that having read, say, "The Repairer of Reputations" enabled me to spot plot elements that might be opaque to a less informed reader. My experience of this issue, though, seemed so utterly dependent on prior knowledge of "The Dunwich Horror" that I can't even imagine how it read to someone without that.

As a general note, I've decided this series is really a high-water mark for Moore. It's the best work I've seen from him since Watchmen.

>12 paradoxosalpha:

I finally picked up issues 3 & 4. Them's pretty high marks you're giving AM, but so far I can't say that I disagree!

#5 (In The Walls) may be the best yet. Tricky structure and lots of sly wordplay.

Is it over?

I just read #8 ("The Key"), and it seems like a reasonable stopping place. But I couldn't see any definite signal that the series was complete.

All reports I've seen specify 12 issues, as does the Wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providence_(comic)

I'll be picking up #8 this week.

>16 gwendetenebre:

Ah, good news. This issue's "Key" (alluding first to "The Silver Key") is especially informative as to how the narrative reality of Providence intersects "our world." It includes several "actual" historical characters. If it's not the end, then it's clearly a turning point.

So I got the first collected edition of Providence (Providence, Act 1 (http://amzn.com/1592912818)) in the mail from Amazon last week and finally got around to sitting down and reading it last night. Man! Talk about falling down the rabbit hole. All the reading we've done for Deep Ones (as well as the mini-arsenal of Lovecraftian reference books I've accumulated over the years) has certainly come in handy here, I'll tell you that. I'm halfway through this volume (i.e., just finished issue 2) right now - will report back when I'm finished with it.

Okay, finished the collection, so I'm up to speed through issue #4. Good stuff - the attention to detail is pretty staggering, even by Moore's extremely high standard. Definitely more of a slow burn thing going on here than in Neonomicon, which was more out-and-out visceral horror. Definitely on board for the rest of the series, although I'm still trying to refrain from purchasing the individual issues.

Good to know it's out as a collection, I'll look for it that way. I am quite skeptical of my preparation in necessary background reading to get even a minority of the references which appear to be thick on the ground.

>20 elenchus:

See >8 gwendetenebre: above. The annotations on that site should carry you through.

I have issue #8 at hand and #9 is due out soon. I'll be reading them both together.

>20 elenchus:

Here are the key stories (all by HPL) to read for the first four issues:

#1: "Cool Air" (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/ca.aspx)
#2: "The Horror at Red Hook" (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/hrh.aspx)
#3: "The Shadow over Innsmouth" (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/soi.aspx)
#4: "The Dunwich Horror" (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/dh.aspx)

Kenton's right - the annotations he linked to in >8 gwendetenebre: are super-thorough and should help you through any rough patches you might run into - I got quite a bit out of them as well.

>22 artturnerjr:

Fabulous. Now it's up to me to get a copy!

No. 9 is out. Read it this evening.

Here's a good recent interview with Alan Moore:

http://www.comicsbeat.com/alan-moores-secret-qa-cult-exposed-part-i-you-wont-bel...

I bought and read approximately four shelves of excellent modern Lovecraft biography, criticism and scholarship, by Messrs. Joshi, Mariconda, Schultz, Waugh, Cannon, Mosig, Burleson and so on. Simply put, this dazzling variety of new information, perspectives and insights allowed me to see a far different and more complex man and writer than I’d previously assumed to be the case, and to see his writing in a new and, to me, revelatory light.

ETA

Pt II

http://www.comicsbeat.com/alan-moores-secret-qa-cult-exposed-part-ii-youll-gasp-...

Excellent essay on the first six issues (and related Moore work):

http://www.tcj.com/providence-lovecraft-sexual-violence-and-the-body-of-the-othe...

>26 paradoxosalpha:

Does promise to be excellent, but I stopped at the point he promised spoilers, since I've not yet read Providence. The references to Hitchcockian sexual violence is gratifying, not only for comparison but for making that reference known to me.

Ahhh, are things coming to a boil in issue #10. I especially like Moore's even-handed portrayal of Grandpa.

It might be worth noting here that Moore's massive (1280 pages!) and much-anticipated second prose novel Jerusalem comes out on Tuesday. If the back-cover blurbs are any indication, it's pretty great. Some highlights:

"...a semiotic ocean of a book that makes Ulysses look like a primer." - Michael Moorcock

"All in all, you are the best writer in human history. Please write back." - Joshua Chamberlain, Naseby Church of England Primary School

https://amzn.com/1631491342
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jul/21/alan-moore-uses-nine-year-olds-fan...

What?! No diary in the back of #11?

After a long pause following Providence #9, I just read #10 and #11. Holy crap. I think I see what's going down.

Nobody seems to stock Providence near me; I got these two issues on a trip back to Chicago last month. Any of you have a recommendation of how to order #12 online?

Also, bringing in a more "actual" Robert Bloch in #11 was a little dizzying, since Providence central figure Robert Black is in large measure a riff on HPL's Robert Blake, who was a fictional alter-ego for Robert Bloch!

>31 paradoxosalpha:

I set up a subscription with Forbidden Planet - granted, that's in the UK, but their NYC shop has a website too.

>12 paradoxosalpha:

I can try and pick up a copy of #12 for you. Let me know and I'll request an extra from my dealer.

So, is #12 not out yet? I've seen conflicting indications online.

>35 paradoxosalpha:

3/29 street date.

>36 gwendetenebre:
Ah! Excellent.

>30 gwendetenebre:
I too was disappointed in the lack of the text piece at the end of #11. It meant that there was only about half of the content I'd become accustomed to in these, even if what was there covered three or four human generations of timeline.

Having read that one, though, I really want to get my whole Moore Yog-Sothothery collection pulled together from whatever boxes it's in, anticipating a full Courtyard - Neonomicon - Providence read. I have them all in individual issues, but I can picture the eventual slipcased edition in three or four hardcover volumes, too.

The Providence Act 2 hardcover (collecting issues 5-8) will be released on June 13:

http://a.co/fXzKeNh

>38 artturnerjr:

That marketing verbiage makes it sound like this hardcover is in strict limitation and once sold out (imminently!) its like will never again grace physical shelves. How close to reality is that? I want to read and perhaps own this eventually, but it's not a priority. At the same time, I'll kick myself in 2-3 years if I learn now is the only time I can get it, and I missed it.

I assume it's highly unlikely to be out of print or unavailable, given Moore's profile and the high praise this series is getting. But I don't follow comics so maybe I'm wrong about that.

>39 elenchus:

I would expect a parallel softcover edition that will go into multiple printings. Like I said above, I can imagine an even more deluxe edition that includes a uniform reissuing of The Courtyard and Neonomicon.

>39 elenchus:

What >40 paradoxosalpha: said. In publishing, as in all other businesses, the cardinal rule is money talks and bullshit walks. Moore's work is too much of a cash cow for Avatar not to do reprints (and probably multiple ones, as PA notes).* I mean, I'll probably spring for the hardcovers anyway, just because I've been a good boy so far and haven't bought for the individual issues, but I would say you're safe if you wanna wait.

*Example: back in May of 2016, Avatar put out an Providence Act 1 hardcover (http://a.co/eEssHBR) and stated that "{f}or a limited one-time run, Avatar Press is presenting a collected Providence Act 1 Hard Cover edition that contains Providence issues #1-4, and all the back matter, which is limited to 6,666 copies. This edition will not be reprinted" (my emphasis). But... lo and behold! This year they're coming out with a "final printing" of Act 1 (http://a.co/hvPw2dN) that "will not be kept in print any further and this is the final opportunity to get a hardcover edition of the first chapter of Alan Moore’s horror masterpiece." For realsies this time, guys! :/

Very helpful, guys. Most of the comics / graphic novels I own are softbound, but there's something about the hardcover that's appealing so I might just order them. I'm not so concerned about having them in series with the related titles, even if I end up wanting them too.

#12 is out.

!

I'm sure that some will find #12 somewhat anticlimactic, but I found it to be perfectly logical. And really unsettling. An all-at-once re-reading is definitely called for.

Free Comic Book Day got me to a shop today, and I grabbed my copy of #12.

ETA: I hadn't visited this shop before (Vision Comics and Oddities), and not only did they have a good comics selection, they had vintage RPG (which I merely admired) and pinball to play. They're not super convenient for my car-free lifestyle, but they'll be worth an infrequent trip, for sure.

Read it today. Satisfying.

Take a look at these variant covers. Well done!

https://factsprovidence.wordpress.com/moore-lovecraft-comics-annotation-index/ce...

I just got word that all 12 issues of Providence are on sale for $1 each on the Kindle site. (Discounts on The Courtyard and Neonomicon too.) So anyone who missed this train the first time around and likes comics on a screen might want to look into it.