The Resurrectionist: The Lost
Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E. B. Hudspeth is broken
into two sections. The first is the fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black,
which might as well have been put together by compiling excerpts from his
personal journal as well as his brother's. It starts with his childhood and
quickly moves to adulthood, summarizing his career and his obsessions. Hudspeth
has done a great job making the book both fantastic and believable. It’s heavy
on the art, but I was especially taken with Hudspeth’s writing ability. Had it
not said fiction in the description, I would've thought Dr. Black was an actual
person and this was a real biography. The book is paced well, at about 80 pages
there isn't much room for every detail, but since Dr. Black is a fictional
character, I am surprised that Hudspeth didn’t add a little more detail to his
life.
The
second half of this volume consists of The Codex Extinct Animalia. I’m thinking
it’s a crowd please as this section is filled with anatomical renderings of
mythical creatures and beasts. There are both skeletal and muscular/connective
tissue plates, each annotated. Details are provided as well as footnotes about
Black's process of constructing and displaying each creation. The novel is dark
for sure, and based on the images, you can assume that Black quite mad. Oh
wait, I forgot that Dr. Black isn’t a real person, again.
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