Sign in with Facebook
Imogen's Reviews > Neonomicon
Neonomicon
by
by
Wow, this is a book about a woman who struggles with sex addiction being locked in a room and sexually assaulted by a monster over the course of a week, which solves all her problems. If that sounds nice to you, you do not sound nice to me.
I think mostly I'm pissed because this is on so many "best horror comics" lists I've read, and not a single one of them mentions the fact that it's just. about. a woman. being raped. by a monster. For a week. Which is presented as not even a big deal to her! She's an FBI agent and after the monster lets her out (spoiler, once it has knocked her up, which she does not really seem to mind) she just, like, goes back to the room where she was held, to investigate the crime scene. No big deal, right? Sure she wouldn't mind going right back in there, immediately. Why would that be complicated for her.
On top of the fact that I'm mad at Alan Moore about this misogynist nonsense is the fact that the ending, and what it adds to the Chthulu mythos, *is* kind of cool. (Spoiler, although who cares because don't read this: What if "R'lyeh under the waters" didn't mean under the literal ocean but instead inside a uterus.) It just... didn't require all the detention and rape? You could have gotten there in ways that were so much more interesting and less predictably, boringly, tropily misogynist. Ugh. So bummed about this.
I think mostly I'm pissed because this is on so many "best horror comics" lists I've read, and not a single one of them mentions the fact that it's just. about. a woman. being raped. by a monster. For a week. Which is presented as not even a big deal to her! She's an FBI agent and after the monster lets her out (spoiler, once it has knocked her up, which she does not really seem to mind) she just, like, goes back to the room where she was held, to investigate the crime scene. No big deal, right? Sure she wouldn't mind going right back in there, immediately. Why would that be complicated for her.
On top of the fact that I'm mad at Alan Moore about this misogynist nonsense is the fact that the ending, and what it adds to the Chthulu mythos, *is* kind of cool. (Spoiler, although who cares because don't read this: What if "R'lyeh under the waters" didn't mean under the literal ocean but instead inside a uterus.) It just... didn't require all the detention and rape? You could have gotten there in ways that were so much more interesting and less predictably, boringly, tropily misogynist. Ugh. So bummed about this.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Neonomicon.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
May 3, 2014
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Logan
(new)
May 03, 2014 06:12PM
Coming from Alan Moore, who I think of as being pretty fucking enlightened, this is hugely disappointing.
reply
|
flag
Well said. I loved the ending, but I think we could have arrived there without it being quite so rapey. I thought The Courtyard (the prequel) was better executed.
david please quit. imogen continue on.
Context is everything!'This was look at the person H.P Lovecraft ie;his facistical racism zand sexism in real life,as much as it is a homage to his take on H.Ps style of tales he would write.U should take all that into consideration before jumping down Alan Moores throat!The mans a genious of the comic form,and it shows in many places throughout this book.
This book is the worst.
It really wasn't what I was expecting. I like some of Moore's previous work and I love HP Lovecraft...started reading this on a Sunday morning, what the fuck. Really not into a vibe of sexual violence on and on and on no matter how the author may try to justify it through context.
Juan-carlos wrote: "It really wasn't what I was expecting. I like some of Moore's previous work and I love HP Lovecraft...started reading this on a Sunday morning, what the fuck. Really not into a vibe of sexual viole..."i whole-heartedly suggest Providence, Moore's current monthly. it's lovecraft based and yes it does have a rape scene but its dealt with way more responsibly, and its not the focus of the story at all. he also has a new anthology coming out, Cinema Purgatorio, and if you liked League, be sure to grab this next month too :)
Yeah I more or less agree, although I could see how her end decision (to destroy the human race) could be interpreted as her true reaction to the rape session, and her stoic public reaction being a coping mechanism. A dissapointment book to say the least.
Thank you for making me rethink this book.Lovecraft implied rape in his fiction, but the fiction was never ABOUT rape.
Neonomicon was going along well until the ritual happened and the story became about the rape. On and on and on it went. Yes, Moore, we get it, this is what happened during Lovecraft's little 'ceremonies.' The implications about Cthulhu are fantastic. The fact that our friend will emerge from a woman's womb and won't come stomping out of the ocean like Godzilla is a clever twist.
Sadly, Alan, I'm going to have to dock you a star for focussing on the sexual assault. A crying shame. You were doing so well...
Its not something new, remember how Jesus was put into Maria's womb, by an pidgeon whitout her consent
So? Plenty of great art & literature is about bad things happening. Hamlet is about someone getting murdered by his own brother. Most of the Greek tragedies are about much worse things than this. I suggest you stop reading books if you're offended by this.
Well, comics are not girls territory.
this review attracts the most well read among us, you can tell
David wrote: "Context is everything!'This was look at the person H.P Lovecraft ie;his facistical racism zand sexism in real life,as much as it is a homage to his take on H.Ps style of tales he would write.U shou..."HPL was a product of his time. And I can't help but not to notice that Moore twisted Lovecraft's life and work. Ignorantly.
I read The Providence Compendium first, not realising it was a sequel to this, then read this, and Jesus, what a mistake. I wish I'd just stuck with PC which deals with all HPL's fucked up racial and gender attitudes in a lot more interesting and clever ways while telling a genuinely compelling story, than this fucked up fish rape book.
Alex wrote: "I read The Providence Compendium first, not realising it was a sequel to this, then read this, and Jesus, what a mistake. I wish I'd just stuck with PC which deals with all HPL's fucked up racial a..."Ah, where in Providence HPL is treated as a bigot? I don't Recall a single passage on that.
I should see this comment before reading..
