History
In 1973,[1] a reclusive scholar living in Providence and possessing extensive knowledge of lost magical arts and occult lore was contacted by Robert Blake. He wrote him about strange creatures and stranger gods, and told him of the dark books explaining how summon them, such as the Necronomicon, the Book of Eibon, or the De Vermis Mysteriis (The Mysteries of the Worm), a rare black magic book written by Ludvig Prinn in the 16th century (which the scholar had never seen a copy of).
When Blake stole De Vermis Mysteries from a book-shop, he was unable to read it since it was in Latin. He consequently came to Providence to ask the scholar to decipher it. The scholar eagerly welcomed Blake, and immediately intended to use the book to acquire its knowledge. He used a spell for summoning magical servant from the stars, and brought to his house the Shambler from the Stars, who killed him, took the dark book and left.[2]Attributes
Abilities
He had studied Latin, and knew about lost magical arts and occult lore.[2]
Notes
- The reclusive scholar was created by Robert Bloch in his story "The Shambler from the Stars" (September, 1935), and was based on H.P. Lovecraft.
- Lovecraft replied by creating and killing off Robert Blake, based on Robert Bloch, in his story "The Haunter of the Dark" (December, 1936), adapted in Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #4 (April, 1973).
- In the adaptation of that story in Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #3 (February, 1973), the reclusive scholar was portraited by Jim Starlin in traits ressembling H.P. Lovecraft.
- Robert wrote a third sequence, "The Shadow from the Steeple" (September, 1950), in which Howard Phillips Lovecraft appeared, and died. The story was adapted in Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #5 (June, 1973), in which the character was renamed Howard Phillips.
- H.P. Lovecraft was also a character on his own in the Marvel Universe, being mentioned on occasion.
See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic #1 ; Appendix; Tomes: Vermis Mysterii, de's entry
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #3 ; The Shambler from the Stars