FALL OF CTHULHU: THE GRAY MAN

Another rock’em-sock’em, oh my God, what just happened installment of Boom! Studios’ Fall of Cthulhu series. The Gray Man is another top notch addition to the ever expanding Lovecraftian world as seen by the comic’s story writer Michael Alan Nelson.

In volume 3, the story returns to a storyline from the first volume. The crazy professor who killed himself in the fist few pages is still causing the Arkham police department endless suffering, and I’m sure mountains of paperwork. Sheriff Dirk isn’t prepared for his chance meeting with a young Brazilian thief by the name of Luci Jenifer Inacio Das Neves, who goes by Lucifer.

Sheriff Dirk arrests Lucifer for breaking and entering and suspected murder, but soon finds out that she is running from someone, no, something far worse, a man by that is only known as The Gray Man. The Gray Man is searching for his ceremonial dagger than Lucifer stole from him and gave to the professor (the same dagger that Cy’s girlfriend used to kill herself in vol. 1).

However, the dagger is lost, it was stolen in vol. 1 from the police department’s evidence locker. Sheriff Dirk, with Lucifer’s help, must travel into the Dreamlands to visit the keeper of secrets, the Harlot.

I don’t want to spoil the story for you. It is well worth the read, even if I felt like vol. 3 was a slight deviation from the main story in order to fill the Buffy the Vampire Slayer gap with a new young, hip, and overdramatic, but strong female character. If you like Lucifer, she now has her own spin off, Hexed. Vol. 3 has a few teaser pages in the back. Unfortunately, I’m hooked - - A thief that uses mythos to protect herself as she retrieves powerful artifacts left by the Old Ones. Yeah, I’m the target audience. I’m just glad that the bimbo-banter of Joss Weldon is not included, well at least not in the preview pages.

Crap! Now I have to wait a couple of months for vol. 4: Godwar to release, and who knows how long for Hexed to be published in a graphic novel format. Until then, Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

Fall of Cthulhu: The Gray Man. Story: Michael Alan Nelson. Art: Mateus Santolouco. Inker: Andre Coelho. Colors: Arthur Fujita, Chris Peter, Eduardo Medeiros. Letterer: Marshall Dillon. Las Angles: Boom! Studios, 2008.