The Thing on the Doorstep
Writer: Simon Birks
Illustrators: Willi Roberts and Rob Jones
Published: 2026 by Image Comics
The stories of H. P. Lovecraft, which form part of the Cthulhu Mythos, are legendary in the worlds of fantasy and horror fiction, as well as graphic novels.
The Thing on the Doorstep is one of Lovecraft’s horror short stories, written in August 1933 and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales.
Like many of Lovecraft’s works, this tale has been adapted once again, this time by Simon Birks.
The balancing act with any adaptation is honoring someone else’s work without straying too far off script while still bringing enough originality to make it feel like the adapter’s own. Birks largely succeeds in walking that line.
The year is 1933, and Edward Derby’s best friend, Daniel Upton, visits him at Arkham Sanitarium and shoots him dead to the horror of the guards. It seems like an open-and-shut case—or is it?
Who was Edward Derby at the end of his life? Had the influence of dark forces changed him?
This collection gathers the five-issue miniseries of the same name. Frankly, it crawls out of the gate to the point that I’m not sure there was enough in the first issue to convince readers to buy the second if they were following it month to month.
The artwork is competent, but it probably won’t win over many new fans either.
Fortunately, the mystery and creeping sense of horror build steadily as the story progresses. In the end, this is a perfectly decent read, but it never quite rises above being simply OK.
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
The Thing on the Doorstep
Writer: Simon Birks
Illustrators: Willi Roberts and Rob Jones
Published: 2026 by Image Comics
The stories of H. P. Lovecraft, which form part of the Cthulhu Mythos, are legendary in the worlds of fantasy and horror fiction, as well as graphic novels.
The Thing on the Doorstep is one of Lovecraft’s horror short stories, written in August 1933 and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales.
Like many of Lovecraft’s works, this tale has been adapted once again, this time by Simon Birks.
The balancing act with any adaptation is honoring someone else’s work without straying too far off script while still bringing enough originality to make it feel like the adapter’s own. Birks largely succeeds in walking that line.
The year is 1933, and Edward Derby’s best friend, Daniel Upton, visits him at Arkham Sanitarium and shoots him dead to the horror of the guards. It seems like an open-and-shut case—or is it?
Who was Edward Derby at the end of his life? Had the influence of dark forces changed him?
This collection gathers the five-issue miniseries of the same name. Frankly, it crawls out of the gate to the point that I’m not sure there was enough in the first issue to convince readers to buy the second if they were following it month to month.
The artwork is competent, but it probably won’t win over many new fans either.
Fortunately, the mystery and creeping sense of horror build steadily as the story progresses. In the end, this is a perfectly decent read, but it never quite rises above being simply OK.
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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