Miskatonic High is a Lovecraftian comic series co-created by a Pinoy artist

Lovecraftian horrors and high school drama make strange bedfellows, but indie comic book series “Miskatonic High” is all about embracing the bizarre.

Created and owned by the talented duo of Filipino comic book artist Ryan Mendoza and writer/editor/graphic designer Mike Shea from Washington, D.C., “Miskatonic High” is already garnering positive attention from comic book enthusiasts, as it looks set to introduce some cosmic horror into your reading collection when its first issue is released this February and March.

High school and cosmic terrors

“Five teens take on H.P. Lovecraft’s monsters and their small-town high school. They’re just not sure which is worse,” says the tagline of the official “Miskatonic High” Twitter. 

The series revolves around five high school students who are magically whisked into ancient Egypt, where they are hunted by the writer of the Necronomicon, a.k.a. the book of the dead. The teens manage to survive and return to modern times, but something dark follows them – something that will birth a great evil into our world.

In addition to telling stories inspired by Lovecraft’s works, Shea and Mendoza are eager to explore classic pulp fiction, noir crime mysteries, B-movie horror, and weird science.

And as one of “Miskatonic High’s” main characters, Ren Santos, is a Filipina, Shea is also looking forward to delving into the aswang mythology.

“When Ryan started to explain some of it to me, it sounded so interesting and frightening,” said Shea. “It’s almost completely unknown here in the United States. The nice thing is that in the same way that this series draws on where I’ve lived and come from, we’ve also found a way to bring the Filipino elements in too. I think if we do it right, it’ll talk about the divide between Filipinos and those of Filipino descent in America, who may have never been to the Philippines…”

Relatable issues in a fantastic world

“The major theme of ‘Miskatonic High’ is that everyday existence in high school is a horror show for some teenagers,” said Shea. “They’re teased, bullied, face all kinds of peer pressure and have difficult family lives.” However, in Miskatonic, “you also have to deal with real monsters, such as tentacle creatures, humans who have devolved into rats, and witches running the local library.”

This lets the series talk about serious issues relevant to its teen and young adult audience, “but in a fun way that can entertain them, make them laugh, and maybe show them that they’re not alone,” said Shea.

“Miskatonic High” is more than just about monsters. “It’s also about human frailty, and (our) ability to rise above it,” said Mendoza. “We can all despair at the hopeless and horrid sight of an uncaring, cosmic, elder god, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up on friends and family.”

Creating “Miskatonic High”

Shea was looking for an artist to collaborate with on a fan project when he met Mendoza on DeviantArt.

Mendoza’s art immediately impressed Shea: “It was beautiful. He could draw everything from cosmic entities down to the most human of interactions. He was also prompt, serious and very professional — qualities I’ve come to learn aren’t widespread enough in the world of comics.”

After doing over 200 pages together, they discussed creating their own series. Mendoza, a Lovecraft expert, wanted “something dark and occult, but with a simple premise that we could expand upon as we grew.”

Shea wanted “mismatched characters who would fit together in odd ways, making for good human drama.”

They settled on the concept of a strange school, like Lovecraft’s fictional Miskatonic University, but for teens. For Shea, the name “Miskatonic” reminds him of the river Housatonic, which passes through an area he used to call home: rural Massachusetts’ beautiful Berkshires area.

“They tell you to write what you know, so ‘Miskatonic High’ it was,” said Shea.

Shea and Mendoza quickly hashed out what they wanted to do with “Miskatonic High.” The monsters had to be Lovecraftian, and there would be no heaven, hell, angels, or demons. They would focus on around 5 characters, bring in some of their favorite aspects of manga, do single-issue stories to allow readers to jump in any time, avoid politics, and ensure the series was fun.

Creating an issue involves a lot of back-and-forth between Shea and Mendoza, with both contributing ideas and asking for clarifications and revisions when necessary. Shea writes the script, and takes care of the lettering and word bubbles. Mendoza does pencil drawings, then inks and colors them.

Artistic considerations

Mendoza makes plenty of artistic considerations to ensure every panel is effective at conveying the story and its message.

“I’m very meticulous during the pre-production of an issue,” said Mendoza. “I make sure I read the script carefully and break it down so that the layouts reflect what the script requires.” Knowing the characters and setting well are also of extreme importance.

Mendoza ensures every character “is doing something in the background, even if they are not the focus of the panel. They could be scratching their head, stroking their chin, shrinking back in embarrassment, or simply checking their phone. It makes the world more lively, as if no one is just standing around looking stoic.”

Facial expressions have to reflect what is going on in the scene. “It’s essential to a horror book to be able to depict characters in various states of emotion, from ecstatic to terrified.”

To make each panel even more interesting, Mendoza plays with angles and character positioning. He also makes detailed and realistic backgrounds, which he believes deserve as much respect and effort as characters.

Kickstarting success

The pair decided to go the Kickstarter route, because according to Shea, many publishers aren’t willing to take chances with unknown creators; they’d rather see you prove yourself first. 

“Kickstarter makes it possible to find our audience no matter where they are,” said Shea.

Mendoza and Shea ran a Kickstarter campaign to allow the production of “Miskatonic High” #1 prints, which should be available in March. The digital version will also be available soon.

The comic will also be digitally available on Comixology and from the official Miskatonic High website. 

The duo plans to use the crowdfunding platform to support each of Season 1’s six issues over the course of the year.

“I’ve always been impressed with long-running series, that is why we conceptualized ‘Miskatonic High’ to be able to accommodate countless stories without becoming repetitive and boring,” said Mendoza. “It’s bit ambitious at this point, but I’d like to do 100 issues of ‘Miskatonic High’ before letting the kids go to college.” — LA, GMA News