Did anyone notice the Cthulhu crossover in the second Young James Bond novel?
In the novel Blood Fever by Charlie Higson Bond is battling a cult that is attempting to raise the Roman Empire. but interestingly this groups deities are never named. At one point in the Novel Bond visits his uncle in Italy. The uncle is a collector of modern art and has a slightly crazy artist named Poliponi who lives with him and creates art. on page 95 of the hardcover Bond is first introduced to this artists "art":
"If the room was unusual, what was in it was extraordinary. It was filled with paintings and statues and odd, incongruous objects. The paintings were unsettling and nightmarish. One gigantic canvas took up almost all of one wall -- it showed an octopus floating in the air, crushing various objects in its tentacles: naked women, an animal that looked like a hairless cow, and a car that looked somehow fleshy and alive."
then later on page 235 Bond sees another of the paintings: "
"...the unfinished painting of a boy standing on a desolate beach . he looked half reptilian with webbed feet and goggle eyes. he was holding the number seven in one hand and a sea urchin in the other. there was something dreamlike and disturbing about the picture, as if the boy were dead, a ghost." this description is surprisingly close to the creatures from "Shadows over Immouths"
Although the dialog suggests that this is a drawing of Bond i really don't buy that.
my reconstruction of events suggests that Poliponi (whose name is suspiciously close to Polyp) was one of the many Contacted by Cthulhu in 1928.[1] but that he was one of the few who did not recover entirely, and with his secret knowledge he began to make (and become one of the founders of) modern art.
and the roman cult in desperation at the rise of fascism turns to Cthulhu to bring the Roman Empire from the depths. This Plot is of course stopped by James Bond.
what do you think of my conclusions?
[1] In the classic short story "The Call of Cthulhu"
Great analysis!
ReplyDelete