Providence #3

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There does not appear to have ever been an east-west water feature running through Bryant Park, as depicted (and mentioned on P32 below “that little stream that they put in that’s fed from the old reservoir before the library was there.”) Moore and Burrows show the fountain in the west end of the park, where it exists today. According to Wikipedia, the fountain was initially installed in 1913 in the east end of the park (basically very near where Russell is standing), and it was moved to its present location in 1936.The explanation for this difference is not entirely clear. It appears that Providence‘s 1919 is similar to The Courtyard‘s 2004 and Neonomicon‘s 2006. Those settings very much resembled the present day, but feature slightly futuristic devices, including city domes (see some further explanation in annotations for Neonomicon #1 P3,p3 and P9,p4.) Perhaps analogous to those futuristic devices, Providence‘s 1919 features a then-futuristic suicide chamber, shown on P6 and P15 below. After you finish this journey, you might realize (like I did) that the experience was so epic that you want to ride the roller coaster again. If this happens to you, I recommend going through the graphic novels a second time with an in-depth guide which you can find here: The style of the Commonplace Book entries reads almost like a fictionalization of (or perhaps the notes that could precede and inspire) Moore’s script for the issue.

First appearance of Dr. Alvarez, Providence‘s equivalent for the Dr. Muñoz of Lovecraft’s story “Cool Air.” Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the groundbreaking run on Swamp Thing, among other amazing projects, gives us Providence, a fresh look at Lovecraft's mythology. Providence, originally released as a 12 issue standalone comic book series by Avatar Press, is finally collected here in a beautiful edition that also includes the artwork for all 12 covers. It was a real title” reveals some xenophobia on Turner’s part, in that she apparently only considers things written in English to be real. Commenter Raúl Moreno aptly points out that there’s a meta-reference here: Moore is hinting at Sous le Monde not being the real title – because it’s a stand in for The King in Yellow. Hollywood storytelling insists on not losing control. Hollywood's escapist storytelling model has always been about getting control and winning. Losing control is Hollywood's biggest fear. You could say that's America greatest fear in general, hence the insistence on hope and optimism. Europe is more fatalistic, even passive, especially the British. Providence is about acceptance of failure, of impotence, of helplessness, of submission to doom. That is true horror. The emphasis on being a doctor, speech patterns, and cheek-pinching are suggestive of Jewish-American immigrant stereotypes.

Alan Moore's Showcase of True Horror

is is a land sunken beneath many fathoms. Were it one day to rise and confront us all…”– Another double reference; both to the sunken island of R’lyeh, where Cthulhu sleeps, and to Blake’s “secret” (see P7,p2) – being outed. La pregunta que os vendrá a la cabeza de inmediato es si lo consiguió o no lo consiguió. Yo lo tengo claro. Y según mi humilde opinión – cada quien tendrá la suya, igual de respetable-, la respuesta es un sí rotundo. No ya solo por “ Providence” como maxiserie sino por su ejercicio de equilibrismo narrativo con respecto a las otras dos miniseries. A veces he oído que se refieren a esta obra como “ El Watchmen de las obras basadas en Lovecraft” pero esto sería una simplificación – hasta un extremo casi paródico– injusta para un obra tan compleja, intrincada y meticulosa. Una obra que he tenido que leer hasta en tres ocasiones para poder abordar de una manera que, al menos no fuera superficial y que sospecho, aguantaría muchas más relecturas, todas provechosas. Providence isn’t an attempt to subvert Lovecraft’s work: it’s a meta-story that enfolds Lovecraft’s canon… It’s got some really interesting things to say about fiction and authorship and the nature of reality itself, as well as the unlikely and uncannily outsized role that a dime-novel crank like Lovecraft would have on Western culture. Moore, with his understanding of how magic works, believes that influential narratives don’t “just” happen by chance, nor are they entirely the product of their authors: they’re the projections of forces from within the Immaterial that are deliberately inserting themselves into our dimension. - Ryan Miga

Dr. Alvarez offers a wholly un-supernatural explanation for the deaths associated with Sous Le Mond. 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? he sees things very clearly.”– The writing here somewhat merges the “c” and “l”, so that “clearly” can also be read as “dearly”. And Alvarez does see things that way as well. (This was probably accidental, but, as Moore’s influence Brian Eno famously said: “Honour thy accident as your hidden intention.”)Personally I didn't find the extreme gore and sex and other choices, often vividly presented in the excellent art, that hard to cope with; but they did make my eyes go wide in "oh no you didn't!" reactions sometimes. I have a strong stomach. Lovecraft would react otherwise! It takes hubris, or at least a cheeky sense of humor, to compare yourself to Shakespeare, but Moore makes his point: his Tempest will be his last comic, just as The Tempest was Shakespeare’s last play, though I personally wouldn’t object if Moore flipped in and out of retirement like Hayao Miyazaki.

The only criticism I can offer concerns the alternation, in Providence, between graphic novel and handwritten recollection. For what it's worth, the handwritten sections are interesting, providing a first-person retrospective on the events we've just encountered. This resonates nicely with the theme of a "hidden America", letting us in on our protagonist's real feelings otherwise hidden behind his polite dissimulations. They also serve as a tidy recollection of what we've just experienced. As with any solid piece of literature it requires some reflective piecing-together, a certain level of engagement from the reader. The whole thing is positively saturated with stunning ideas which demand a bit of rumination. These retrospective portions certainly help with that. However they sometimes tend to drag a little, even interrupting the rhythm of the narrative. Perhaps they might have been trimmed some without harming things? The art deco bookplate features the figure of the Greek god Hermes, in front of a winged staff or caduceus. Hermes was the messenger of the gods – fitting for a journalist – and was later made the patron of Western magic when he was syncretized with the Egyptian god Thoth as Hermes Trismegistus. Alvarez has “a perspective that’s outside of everything” refers to Alvarez actually being dead, as told in the conclusion of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Cool Air.”

All of Lovecraft is Here, Even Lovecraft Himself

Davidsen, Keith (1 April 2012). "Alan Moore Accepts First-Ever GN Bram Stoker Award for Neonomicon". Avatar Press . Retrieved 29 April 2012.

The series was collected into a single volume, available in both hardcover and softcover. Both versions include the coloured edition of The Courtyard. Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary, or merely virtual phenomenon. The New York Herald sent reporter Henry Morton Stanley on a harrowing quest into Africa to find Dr. David Livingstone in 1869; in 1871, Stanley succeeded, famously supposed to have greeted the ailing explorer with the phrase “Dr. Livingstone I presume?” This dated reference – some forty years before the time of the comic – gives an indication of Dr. Alvarez’ true age.

There are symbols or letters worked into the design along the bottom of the bookplate that are ambiguous: A? N? +? R? M? F? Doctor Alvarez” is Providence‘s equivalent to Dr. Muñoz of Lovecraft’s story “ Cool Air“. If you haven’t read “Cool Air” ( text available in its entirety online, also in audiobook version) you should do so, as it forms the primary Lovecraft influence on Providence #1.