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I love a good mash-up, where two different things are combined to create something completely new, and generally unexpected. Whether it's a song like The Time Lords Doctorn' The TARDIS or candy like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, it's always a joy when you find two great taste that taste great together.
Where the Deep Ones Are is a mash-up of two of my favorite classic tales: Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". These may seem like unlikely stories to intermingle, but they actually share more parallels than you might think:
- Both stories have their protagonists journeying into strange territories that slowly reveal their darker sides.
- Both stories have mysterious creatures that really want the protagonists to stay.
- In both stories the protagonists have to flee, with an angry mob of monstrous creatures hot on their heals.
With a story by Kennith Hite and pictures by Andy Hopp, the book attempts to recapture the illustrative and narrative style of Wild Things while shifting the action to Innsmouth and the wild things becoming Deep Ones. Bobby — the "Max" in this version is renamed to reflect the main character of "Shadow"', Robert — is a young boy in a tentacled costume with an overwhelming appetite for fish, overzealous demands for which land him in his room. As Bobby ruminates his lack of fish his room transforms, and he rides a boat to the fishy smelling Innsmouth. From that point on, the story follows the path of "Shadow," with crazy old Zadok, warning him from the town. After a quick trip to the Gillman House, Bobby makes a narrow escape back to his boat. But rather than making amends with his mother and getting his dinner, in this version of the tale, Bobby seeks out his cousin (in an insane asylum) and they return to Innsmouth and the Deep Ones to live forever.
This is a truly creepy re-telling of the story of Max, and I would not recommend it for young children. I did read it to my thirteen year old daughter, who enjoyed it, mostly, but was confused by the overall story. It didn't make any sense to her that Bobby would return to Innsmouth, and I can understand her confusion. I've read the Lovecraft's story several times, and know it well, but to a newbie, the logic behind the decision to return to the very monsters that he had just escaped would be baffling. This may be a gateway for here to read more Lovecraft, but only time will tell. I will say that Jocelyn's goal in life right now is to attend San Diego Comicon dressed as Chiba Cthulhu.
For myself, what I enjoyed most about the book where the little touches the creators put in, like calling Bobby's boat the "Sumatra Queen," and the signs in the background of the Gillman house. These clever touches were not over done, but always fit into the flow of the story.
I did read this book on an iPad, and the pages slid right to left. Several of the pages seemed to match edge to edge, giving a panoramic effect. Unfortunately, this was a standard feature, and some pages where complete breaks, while others were just slightly off. It would have been really cool to grow the images as one continuous mural. Just a thought for future iPad story developers.
