Cthulhu
From doktorsleepless
We know John Reinhardt is an orphan, and there are repeated flashback-type panels that indicate young Johnny encountered a powerful tentacled entity.
Is Reinhardt trying to wake up Heavenside to the imminent return of the Great Old Ones? Is he trying to bring such an event about - his "terrible prescription"? His obsession with the book The Darkening Sky indicates an acute interest in the worlds of HP Lovecraft.
In stories about Cthulhu, those who are most often affected by the Great Old Ones (of which Cthulhu is a most prominent member) are artists, dreamers, cultists, the insane, and psychics. Doktor Sleepless would definitely seem to fit one or more of those categories.
Arguably, Cthulhu is not one of the "Great Old Ones"--rather a priest of an alien race ("cthulhoids") that worships them. Cf. Shreffler's hierarchy of Lovecraftian entities in The H. P. Lovecraft Companion. Certainly, Cthulhu doesn't seem to have the same status as Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, or Shub-Niggurath. The island R'lyeh where Cthulhu is imprisoned therefore becomes an analogue of Atlantis.
Cthulhu itself is a sleeping god, sealed in its tomb somewhere under the depths of the Pacific in the city of R'lyeh, whence its dreams emanate and inspire both lunatics and poets. When "the stars are right," the city of R'lyeh is prophesied to rise to the surface, Cthulhu will awaken, and humanity will be swept away, enslaved, or transformed in the wake of the Great Old One's new rulership.
The writings of H.P. Lovecraft and, in particular, stories about Cthulhu have been tied to the practice of chaos magick.
The dwellings of the Great Old Ones, like R'lyeh, are commonly described as being of "non-Euclidian geometry." It's likely that the eldritch geometry relates to Wavy Lines ov Deth.
And did anyone else spot this guy lurking in the cover of #001 - not easy to spot in the b/w version:
In issue #04 the book the illuminatus! trilogy is talked about. The book contains creatures from H.P Lovecraft's writing as well as H.P Lovecraft himself.
