The Book of Maggor Thoom

Maggor Thoom is a spawn of Cthulu, and he's switched bodies with a priest so he can take over our world. I think.

This was a fun graphic novel, especially for fans of Lovecraftian monsters. This is a fun cast of characters, from Bunny the 12 foot tall Hunter to the priest in the tiny body of Maggor Thoom. Modern day political figures are parodied in fine form, as well.

I'm a really easy sell on this because comedy fantasy bureaucracy is my absolute favorite genre. This satire was a little too wacky and not very hard hitting, but a lot of the jokes did work, and the Art Deco eldritch horror drawings were phenomenal.

I LOVED this book, but I suspect that plenty of people won't, especially if they:
1) are politically conservative (or, at the very least, support Trump),
2) don't enjoy satire, political humor, or dark humor, or
3) have very definite ideas about how the art in graphic novels should look.

It was dark. It was smart. It was insightful and hilarious and I enjoyed every page.

It was entertaining and different, but I unfortunately can't say i totally enjoy it. Maybe it was the humor style or something. Not my style... Sorry!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Book of Maggor Thoom by James Turner is a fantasy graphic novel about a demon who is going against the grain at his corporate job. According to the description, "On the dark and shadowy surface of a living black hole resides one Maggor Thoom, demon. After endless eons of success as the star employee of the Insanity Acquisition Department, he has lost his passion and purpose." Will Maggor Thoom be able to survive this adventure?

Overall, The Book of Maggor Thoom is an interesting graphic novel that some will find interesting. Unfortunately, I just didn't connect with this graphic novel. I took off 3 stars, because I was mainly disappointed by the art. The art is black and white with lots of contrast between the white and black ink parts. I wasn't expecting color, but I was expecting something a bit nicer to look at. The story is fine, but because of the art, it damped my enjoyment of the story. I'm sure that there is an audience for this artwork, but it's just not me. If you're intrigued by the description, or if you're a fan of graphic novels, you can check out this book, which is available now!

Netgalley freebie in return for an honest review.

I loved the artwork in this one, beautifully done eldritch monsters in monochrome.

We follow the demon Maggor Thoom from his job in the Insanity Acquisition Department to a fantasy Earth as he has just lost his motivation to collect insanity. Who wouldn't? After he lands on earth he is pursued by Archon Hunters, inadvertently has a cult following, attends a psychiatrist and runs for president.

The story didn't always flow smoothly between scenes, I often went back a page to see if I had missed something but hadn't. However, the plot was enjoyable and held my interest.

This was an interesting and unique read. There were plenty of moments of social and political commentary about the downfall of personality and human sanity. I'm always up for a unique read and this one was pretty good. Maggor is tired of his job and heads to earth to spread discord and insanity amongst humans. He's intercepted by a team of hunters and a sly little ending leaves you with a smile.

“Beware, Mortal! You hold the forbidden book of Maggor Thoom, a text from beyond sanity! Read further and your puny ape-brain will boil inside your skull and your eyeballs melt into a steaming ooze. For I am a being of impossible thoughts, who dwells on the surface of Azathoth, the living black hole, the cosmic chaos!” Thus begins The Book of Maggor Thoom by James Turner. Maggor Thoom is a demon who lives in Azathoth. His job is to drive mortals insane to feed to the maw, only he’s starting to have feelings and doubts. Driven by an existential crisis, Maggor Thoom tries to run away, but when he’s found out, things get difficult for him.

This graphic novel is a great parody on popular culture. The opening scene of the graphic novel is a board meeting of demons reporting their attempts to drive people insane. Techniques like social media campaigns are discussed, and donuts are offered as a reward. The bootlicking of the demons is beautifully over the top, as well, as are the office politics and little barbs against corporate life. Later, we hear from a cab driver who listens to President Rhump’s podcast and is thankful that the Oligarch Party is looking out for the common man. The satire here throughout this graphic novel is rich and inviting and makes for a layered read.

Of further interest is the stunning art used throughout the novel. Turner’s art is a black and white combination of Edward Gorey’s dark simplicity and figures from Greek pottery. It’s nuanced and detailed, but simplistic enough to be ambiguous and shadowy, which works really well with the themes of the novel. Furthermore, while Turner will use some very traditional graphic formats, he’s not afraid to experiment with full pages of art and text, or sequences that aren’t delineated by traditional boxes. This makes for a very disjointed narrative, which really works well with the story and its themes.

The Book of Maggor Thoom is a really fun book. The horror tropes are there, but they’re used to satirize society and contemporary culture. The art is really stylized and striking, and works to enhance the dark, nightmarish content of the book as well as the themes of madness and ennui. Overall, this is a solid graphic novel for anyone interested in comedic horror with a weird slant, and is strongly recommended.

"'BEWARE, MORTAL! YOU HOLD THE FORBIDDEN BOOK OF MAGGOR-THOOM, A TEXT FROM BEYOND SANITY! READ FURTHER AND YOUR PUNY APE-BRAIN WILL BOIL INSIDE YOUR SKULL AND YOUR EYEBALLS MELT INTO STEAMING OOZE."
(😳 Me continuing to read)

Official title: The Book of Maggor Thoom
My title: Maggor Thoom Takes Over
Author: James Turner
Publisher: SLG Publishing
Fav character: Maggor Thoom + psychiatrist
Readability: Smooth
Type: Graphic Novel
5/5

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Black and white gloriousness inktober-esque
~ The office drama you never knew you needed
~ The humour is underworldish, the jokes are delicious and I chuckled quite a bit
~ If you want creative ways to address someone, look no further 🤣
~ I bet you didn’t know Noah and Robin Hood fought a kraken 😏
~ Mags is relatable af

Maggor Thoom (Mags) is going through some existential angst in the underworld of madness and despair. He has achieved so much and yet, he has lost the will to drive people insane. His numbers are in the red and his crush reminds him that he must find his verve once again or be an abject failure… his all consuming of madness dad agrees and so he sets out on a journey to the fantastical human world! 😍

With a mix of the old and the new, mythological creatures, monster hunters and an obsession with getting likes on Memegram he is BOUND to find the meaning he seeks. Isn’t he?! Toss in a curious psychiatrist, presidential candidates, desperate acolytes, a monster loving dog and a violin and you have this delicious graphic novel that was unexpected and fascinating.

I loved it. My brain loved it. My vocabulary loved it. ✨Give it a read.

🌱THE MEH
~ Not for everyone - those in power and with power are liberally discussed satirically

♡🌱 But that’s just me ;)

What happens when a minion of the God of Insanity reaches total burnout and low KPI? In this satire of office culture, social media influencers, and US politics, the reader follows an unlikely hero who must learn to deal with his feelings, get good with his dad, and battle his terrible boss…or end up being thrown in the void. For fans of Idiocracy, Lucifer, and absurdist humor.

The good:

*Relatable humor re: work meetings, requisition forms, and social media climbers,

*The psychiatrist was my favorite character and I’d eagerly follow her further adventures

* Some of the art had this really cool woodblock vibe—the larger spreads especially.

* Satisfying twists and ending.


The not so-good:

*Could benefit from some editing. Occasionally jokes go on too long (these sections have tons of lettering and are low of art) and might be more successful if they didn’t go on and on.

*The pacing is pretty unrelenting. The pages that are mainly art help to breathe a bit, but I wish it had been broken into chapters or there were more pauses in the action. At times it felt like I was reading the equivalent of a 22 minute punk album.

* The satire on Trump could have been way more extreme. Most of the jokes were like things you’d read in a Twitter meme.

It's office space meets evil dead in this comedy about a demon suffering from ennui. It lampoons modern-day working culture, the desire for social media clout, and the very trendy need to find purpose cleverly. but is rather clumsy with its political satire. That said I laughed consistently. The visual gags all have perfect tempo and timing. Turner has a superb ear for dialogue nailing moments that are meant to be poignant or funny with equal ease.

It has lovely moody art. Thickly inked black and white lines, sumptuous character designs that range from punky to cutely horrific.

I had a heavenly time reading about a being trying to bring hell to earth.

This was such a weird and wonderful read! Firstly, the artwork is beautiful - a really fun style, with lovely details, in strong black and white. I really enjoyed the character design, particular of Maggor Thoom and the other monsters. This is definitely the kind of graphic novel I would want to pick up just for the art alone!
I enjoyed the eldrich-horror plot mixed with the sometimes absurd, sometimes meta, humour. While I haven't read the Necronomicon or any other related stuff, I'm familiar enough with the concepts to enjoy those jokes and references, and this is an accessible story without knowing that background. The references to our real-world issues, like Trump, Russian vote hacking and the pandemic were amusing but not in any way subtle, which might put some people off, but I thought the world Turner constructed had enough fantasy / twisting of reality that it was still interesting.
It just ended a little too abruptly! After a lot of build up, I would have liked a bit more resolution for Maggor Thoom's character. As the story went on it relied more and more upon jokes which occasionally became predictable, it felt like the original intentions got forgotten a little.
I also noticed a few errors with the text - words missing, sentences incomplete - but hopefully these will be resolved in the finished edition.
Overall, I'm really thankful to have been given the chance to read this, and will be on the look out for it in print!

This graphic novel explores Lovecraft's mythology, giving life to the the backstage of the monstrous gods of his world. I have read some amazing work building on Lovecraft's creations and this comic is quite fun. It serves an Eldritch horrors as a corporation working at creating mass madness and annihilation, and goes on with very tongue in cheek situations. The black and white drawings are wonderful, very stylized and balanced, making them all look like an inkblot print. It would be a pretty object to own.
Sadly, the e-copy I was given was very low quality, pages loading so slowly the reading was painful, so my enjoyment of this work was greatly reduced and replaced by a lot of frustration which tainted my appreciation A LOT. I would not recommend reading an electronic version anyway, this deserves a print copy. A comic for fans of satire, Lovecraft and Hellboy.

This was an enjoyable read. The black and white art style was compelling and the writing wry and humorous. I enjoyed the satirical components of the storytelling, especially Turner’s commentary on the political climate and capitalism. The overall concept of this graphic novel is so unique and the tone adopted to convey the story is really special. The Book of Maggor Thoom inexplicably feels like it could be adapted into a really excellent video game.

TWs - Demons, cults, fascism, suicidal thoughts, death of a father, possession

This graphic novel was... weird...

I absolutely loved the art style, I thought it was stylistically unique and very intricate. I spent a long time poring over the illustrations on every page.

I liked the plot too, a demon disillusioned with his work turning humans to madness goes to Earth to find his purpose and in doing so, kinda causes the apocalypse. It was fun and engaging and made a lot of commentary on society, social media and politics.

The politics is where it gets really weird for me... There's a character who represents the fascist and incompetent right who is obviously a caricature of Donald Trump which was at times hilarious and at others, a little scarily accurate. And then the character representing leftist politics... was, to use the word again, weird... He was a strange amalgamation of both British and American leftist politicians as well as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos but because of this melding of ideals it was really hard to understand what the author was actually trying to say about the left with the character. At times he'd be progressive and at others he'd be militant, he'd be critiquing incompetence in the right and then perpetuate it himself and the message just got so muddled.

I think there could've been some really great commentary in there but a lot of it just wasn't a clear statement.

Overall I think this could've been a hilarious and satirical look at humanity and politics... if it knew what it was saying. It looks really cool though

Thank you NetGalley for providing me and eARC of this graphic novel

Honestly, this book took a minute for me to get into. But once I did, I was hooked! This graphic novel follows Maggor Thoom, a monster who is disillusioned with his life. In order to spice things up, he decides to go to Earth. Chaos ensues.

If you're a fan of sci-fi or horror, then I would say definitely check this book out!