Graphic Novel Review: Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice, by Bruce Brown

Title: Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice

Author: Bruce Brown

Illustrator: Thomas Boatwright

Publisher: Arcana Studio

Date of Publication: September 13, 2019

Number of Pages: 78

See it on Goodreads: Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice

*I received a copy of the graphic novel from the author in exchange for an honest review

Summary

Dr. Herbert West: Re-Animator, legend, genius…and childhood menace? In this spine-tingling tale, young Herbert creates a botched serum which cause the dead to walk the streets in search of Johnny Cakes. Together with his sister Elizabeth and the Dean of Arkham University they must stop the zombie army before they run out of cakes and start eating townsfolk!

Review - a Fun Retelling of Lovecraft's Short Story

Even though it might not become immediately obvious by the summary, Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice is a retelling of Lovecraft's short story, Herbert West - Reanimator. First of all, I have to admit that I haven't read the original story. However, I read a plot synopsis to find out what the connection with the story of this graphic novel is. 

As it turns out, Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice adopts the main protagonist of the short story and his objective. Both in the short story and the graphic novel, Herber West wants to create a serum that will reanimate the dead. The serum he develops works but the reanimated dead are violent and things get out of hand. This is where the similarities between those two end. I would say that this is for the better as the graphic novel goes for a different tone - one that I enjoyed a lot.

From the very first page of the graphic novel, we get references to Frankenstein, which I have to admit that I found a bit weird. You see, apart from the fact that corpses come back to life, I couldn't find any connection between Frankenstein and this story. If I have to pinpoint something from pop culture that influences this comic that would be the zombies. However, while researching about Lovecraft's short story, I found out that he had written it as a parody of Frankenstein (it was an aha moment!)

The graphic novel is written in the POV of Herbert West's sister. She tries to be the voice of reason for the young boy, although she fails time and time again. Herbert, on the other hand, is written as the mad scientist type, mixed with Sherlock elements - he even uses "Elementary" at some point. I wasn't a big fan of this as I didn't think it offered anything more to the character.

Nevertheless, Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice is a really fun read. The story takes horror elements but creates something light and fun. The zombies don't chase people to kill, rather they want to eat the local treats called "Johnny Cakes". The sugar rush creates an even bigger frenzy that the young scientist and his sister try to stop. The solution to the problem is easy, yet effective and things return to normal.

At this point, I have to refer to the art style. The illustration of the story is unique and fits the story perfectly. It uses cool colors that at the same time manage to take some of the darkness out of the story. Even though it plays with horror elements, it doesn't include graphic violence or any real violence, to be honest. For this reason, I think that this graphic novel would also be ideal for kids. 

All in all, I enjoyed Dr. Herbert West Astounding Tales of Medical Malpractice very much. It was a quick and fun read, the thing I needed after a long day working. What more could I ask? 

Read more of my reviews here.