Ornament and horror, elegance and grotesquerie: these juxtapositions were my primary focus for the art and story of The Cult of Dr. Black. Together, the text and images reflect Dr. Black's ability to adapt to the advancements of the Progressive Era (1890–1920). This time was rich in art, fashion, and technology, but also suffered from the turbulent struggles of nationality, race, gender, and class. These dichotomies helped create the complex story of Dr. Black and his bizarre cult, the Noumenon.
Artificial left arm, Europe, 1850-1910 Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
While some creature illustrations maintain the same style as in the first book, I created a new look for the sequel by joining technology and art in the fashion of medieval armor adorned with decorative design, or how Victorian-era prosthetics were as beautiful as they were functional. For the new mechanical anatomy, I pushed the boundary of what one might expect from a man like Dr. Black. This work was inspired by older medical illustrators, such as Henry Gray and Joseph Maclise; the designs of industrial machines; and my own imagination.
Joseph Maclise, Plate 8,
Surgical Anatomy - 1859
Dr. Guertin's Nerve Syrup
National Museum of American History
Additionally, I wanted to incorporate other perspectives from the era: articles, short stories, and even comics to show how influential the legend of Dr. Black had become. All of the illustrations throughout the book needed to appear to be from different artists with varying levels of skill. To do this, I researched magazines, comic and story illustrations, lesser-known playbills, labels of tonics and medicines, and artists working in the time period, including, but certainly not limited to, the great works of Alphonse Mucha and Toulouse-Lautrec.
The Progressive Era saw a rise in health and medicine. It was a time when there was virtually no regulation and very little awareness of the harm that could be caused in the name of wellness. Dr. Black took advantage of this naivety to execute his most insidious ideas under the guise of love and beauty. It was also a time when the early American eugenics movement was growing, and fear of prison, forced sterilization, or committal to an asylum was a horrific reality for many. My characters were motivated to escape it all by joining the underground organization, the Noumenon. Unfortunately, instead of salvation, they found Dr. Black.
The world has always been crazy, exhilarating, horrifying, and beautiful all around us. The Cult of Dr. Black embraces the insanity of the world and narrows its focus through the lens of a man who wants nothing more than to solve all of our problems ... forever.
Raised in Colorado, E. B. Hudspeth spent much of his childhood living in states across the country. He worked as a snow and ice sculptor for nearly a decade while continuing to write and paint. His passion for the arts eventually took him to Pietrasanta, Italy, where he worked as a marble sculptor. While creating anatomical designs of impossible beings, he developed the ideas that would become The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black and its sequel, The Cult of Dr. Black. He continues to work as a professional artist and author living in New York.
