The Three Stooges vs. Cthulhu

The Three Stooges vs. Cthulhu is a horror comedy comic book published in 2023 by American Mythology Productions. Written by Adam F. Goldberg and Hans Rodionoff, and illustrated by Diego Tapie, it features the classic comedy trio known as the Three Stooges stumbling upon the cosmic horror of Cthulhu.
==Synopsis==
Larry, Moe, and Curley are penniless simpletons fishing on a dock to try to get hold of a meal. Broke and hungry enough to fight over a shoe fished by Curley, their attention is grabbed by the arrival of a boat with a lone sailor who babbles words in an unknown language and rambles about a sunken thing he found, an experience which terrified him to the point that he never wants to sail in "those cursed waters" again.
Reasoning that the sailor must have found some valuable treasure and that they can "borrow" his boat since he evidently won't need it, the Stooges hop aboard and set sail. While fighting over who gets to wear the captain's hat, they suddenly find themselves staring at the mighty city of R'lyeh, recently risen from the depths. Inside, they come across an idol of Cthulhu and take it, with the intention of selling it to a museum. However, the theft of the idol doesn't go unnoticed, and the three dimwits find themselves face to face with Cthulhu himself.
Despite the beast's menacing appearance, Larry argues that it might be friendly, but their attempt to greet it goes sour when the winged behemoth cuts off Curley's left arm with its tentacle. The attack prompts the Stooges to sail away at maximum speed towards Providence, Rhode Island, to seek help from fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft, on the grounds that he wrote "The Call of Cthulhu" and might know how to defeat it.
At first, Lovecraft tries to explain that his stories are just fiction, but is proven wrong when a group of Deep Ones known as the Esoteric Order of Dagon shows up on his door to exact revenge on the Stooges for meddling with the affair of their overlord Cthulhu. Lovecraft bravely challenges the Deep One leader to a sword fight, but is so inept with the blade that he accidentally cuts off Curley's right arm instead of his opponent's. Following this fiasco, they opt to follow Larry's plan of cowardly running away and hiding.
Lovecraft realises that all his life he must have been receiving psychic communications from Cthulhu, writing about real events without realising that they were real. After sewing Curley's arm back with his emergency sewing kit, he explains that their only hope to placate the ire of the god is to give back the idol they stole.
After sailing the ocean for hours with no sign of R'lyeh, Lovecraft suggests that they try to recreate the circumstances in which the Stooges first found it, i.e. the fight, and specifically the eye-poking. This surprisingly works. A still furious Cthulhu cuts off Curley's remaining limbs, but ceases the attack once Lovecraft returns the idol. As the monster returns to the ocean depths, the gentleman of Providence chooses to stay on R'lyeh, feeling that he finally found a place where he belongs. He bids farewell to his new friends, who comment on how the adventure didn't serve them much good, as they are still broke and hungry.
==Behind the Mythos==
When the Stooges find the city of R'lyeh, Moe initially believes that it is Atlantis.
Cthulhu's appearance in the comic is similar to how it's described by Lovecraft, complete with the scaly skin, draconic wings and claws. An interesting addition is that its tentacles are apparently razor-sharp, to the point that they can be used to sever a man's limbs with a single strike.
The pictures in Lovecraft's house include a lighthouse (possibly a reference to "The White Ship"), the Sigil of the Gateway from the Simon Necronomicon, an octopus (possibly of the cosmic variety) and August Derleth's version of the Elder Sign, as well as some portraits.
Category:Expanded Mythos Works
Category:Comic Books
Category:Crossovers