Jeffrey Combs
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
(Difference between revisions)
| Revision as of 21:24, 25 March 2020 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | + | '''Jeffrey Alan Combs''' (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor known for starring in [[horror film]]s, such as ''[[Re-Animator]]'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' and the [[DC Animated Universe]] television franchises. | |
| - | '''Herbert West''' is a fictional character created by [[H. P. Lovecraft]] for his [[short story]] "[[Herbert West–Reanimator|Herbert West—Reanimator]]", first published in 1922. There have been several film adaptations of the story including Herbert West as played by [[Jeffrey Combs]] in the ''[[Re-Animator (film series)]]'' which include the [[1985 in film|1985]] ''[[Re-Animator]]'' film and its two sequels, ''[[Bride of Re-Animator]]'' and ''[[Beyond Re-Animator]]''. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Herbert West is the inventor of a special solution that when injected into a main artery of a recently deceased person causes the body's mechanical, living functions to return. However, most subjects that have undergone the "[[Corporeal reanimation|re-animation]]" process have turned violent and, after failed attempts to return to their own graves, have terrorized the communities into which they were reanimated. In Lovecraft's tale, Herbert West was ostracized by his fellow medical students because he believed he could overcome death and had only one friend: the unnamed narrator of the story. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==''Re-Animator'' films== | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The character of Herbert West returned to popular media in the [[Stuart Gordon]] film ''[[Re-Animator]]'' and its sequels, starring [[Jeffrey Combs]] as Dr. West. These films transplant the character into the modern day (1980s-2000s) rather than the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] era and changes his hair from Lovecraft's specified blond to brown, but otherwise the character remains unchanged. The film is also set over a fairly short period of time where West and Cain are still medical students, whereas the short story played out over the span of decades from the years of medical students, practising doctors, war-time physicians and eventually retirement. In the first two films the equivalent of West's nameless companion is Dr. Daniel Cain, played by [[Bruce Abbott]], who finds himself embroiled in West's experiments. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Other appearances== | + | |
| - | ===Comics=== | + | |
| - | * Adventure Comics, an imprint of [[Malibu Comics]], published two series related to the films starting in 1991. First was a three-issue comic-book adaptation of the first film, scripted by [[Steven Philip Jones]] and drawn by [[Christopher Jones (comics)|Christopher Jones]]. It was followed by an original four-issue prequel titled ''Re-Animator: Dawn of the Re-Animator'', written by Bill Spangler. In 2017 [[Arrow Video]] included reprints of these comics in their [[Blu-ray]] DVD collections of the two films. | + | |
| - | * [[Dynamite Entertainment]] first featured West in the 2005 four-issue series ''[[Army of Darkness (comics)|Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator]]'', where he faces off against [[Ash Williams]], hero of the ''[[Evil Dead]]'' film series. There was also a ''Re-Animator'' #0 prequel. In 2013, West again joined Williams in the one-shot ''Army of Darkness/Re-Animator''. West was then featured in his own 2014 four-issue series, simply called ''Reanimator'', that picked up after the one-shot left off. | + | |
| - | * Herbert West is the doctor that Mayor [[Harvey Dent]] sees in the [[Batman]] ''[[Elseworlds]]'' comic book miniseries, ''The Doom That Came To Gotham''. | + | |
| - | * Herbert West makes a guest appearance in the [[Devil's Due Publishing]] series ''[[Hack/Slash]]'' (#15-17) in a crossover called "Hack/Slash vs. Re-Animator" where the father of the main heroine, [[Cassie Hack]], is an assistant to Herbert. During one of his experiments, he reanimates her mother, the Lunch Lady, who almost starts a killing spree. However, with Cassie's help, he destroys and eventually disappears from Cassie and Vlad's sight. It is hinted that the government is now interested in his work. | + | |
| - | * West is a main character in the [[Zenescope Entertainment]] comic ''Chronicles of Doctor Herbert West'', essentially a modern retelling of the Lovecraftian novel in which the ''hidden narrator'' is now Megan, who is his lover and girlfriend while in his college years, and his obsession with death is now explained as the byproduct of a childhood trauma: while going to church with his devout family, he saw his mother and sister run over by a bus. He renounces the idea of an immortal soul reaching a heavenly afterlife, swearing that he will find a way to bring back his loved ones. It appears to currently be on hiatus. | + | |
| - | * Randy MilHolland's webcomic ''[[Something Positive]]'' contains a [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp07132007.shtml musical adaptation] of Herbert West in the "Out of Tune" storyline. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Video games=== | + | |
| - | * The online flash game ''Deanimator'' is based on H. P. Lovecraft's original character. | + | |
| - | * The ''[[Splatterhouse]]'' video game series features a mad scientist called "Dr. Henry West", owner of "West Mansion", the setting for the series. This Dr. West was also conducting experiments to resurrect the dead. | + | |
| - | * West is a main character in the Japanese video game ''[[Operation Darkness]]'', a WWII-era tactical-RPG/third-person shooter about an Allied special forces unit that possess supernatural abilities. West is the team medic. (In the English version of the game, West is renamed "Herbert East.") | + | |
| - | * In the video game ''[[Obscure 2]]'', the player picks up a keycard in the hospital belonging to a man named Herbert West. | + | |
| - | * In the endless runner game ''Zombie Tsunami'', the player at one point unlocks a potion called "Herbert West's Finest Reanimation Serum". | + | |
| - | * In the video game ''[[Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter]]'', a pamphlet promoting ''[[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam Asylum]]'' states to "Contact Dr. Herbert West for questions" | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Novels=== | + | |
| - | *Herbert West and elements form ''[[The Plague-Daemon]]'' feature prominently in ''Lovecraftian: The Shipwright Circle'' by [[Steven Philip Jones]]. The ''Lovecraftian'' series reimagines the weird tales of [[H. P. Lovecraft]] into one single universe modern epic. | + | |
| - | * The character of Herbert West has had brief cameo appearances in [[Kim Newman]]'s [[Anno Dracula series|''Anno Dracula'' series]] novels ''[[The Bloody Red Baron]]'' and ''[[Dracula Cha Cha Cha]]'', serving as a colleague of [[The Island of Doctor Moreau|Dr. Moreau]], [[Alraune|Jakob Ten Brincken]], and [[Doctor Septimus Pretorius]]. | + | |
| - | * Herbert West is the main character in novels by Audrey Driscoll entitled ''The Friendship of Mortals'' (2010), ''Islands of the Gulf'' (2012) and ''Hunting the Phoenix'' (2012). | + | |
| - | * West is an important, but peripheral character in [[Pete Rawlik]]'s novel ''Reanimators'' (2013), in which his previously unnamed colleague is identified as Daniel Cain, using the name assigned him in the Stuart Gordon movie. The novel tells the story of a previously unknown rival of West's, as well as the secret history of Lovecraft's Arkham country. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Film=== | + | |
| - | * West is also a character in the [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[Lovecraftian]] [[horror film]] ''[[Kammaren]]''. The scriptwriters did a Swedish take on the name and it became Herbert Vest. He was played by the Swedish actor [[Kaj Stenberg]]. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Anime=== | + | |
| - | * The Lovecraft-based [[anime]] series ''[[Demonbane]]'' reimagines Herbert West as a guitar-playing lunatic mad scientist. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Music=== | + | |
| - | * "Herbert West" is the title of a 2007 song by UK band [[Heartwear Process]]. | + | |
| - | * "Herbert West" is also the title of a 2008 song by US band [[Pipe Supply]], named by Jiggly J. Slickwood as a tribute to the Re-Animator movies. | + | |
| - | * "Herbert West" was also the name of a rock band based in Barrow-in-Furness in the 1980s. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Other=== | + | |
| - | * Herbert West has a main role in the parody musical ''[[A Shoggoth on the Roof]]'', published by the [[H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society]]. | + | |
| - | * [[BPAL|The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab]] has a perfume called "Herbert West" in its ''A Picnic in Arkham'' collection. | + | |
| - | * "Herbert West" appears in the radio drama series ''[[Our Fair City (radio drama)|Our Fair City]]'' as a slightly crazed re-animator/scientist. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor known for starring in horror films, such as Re-Animator, and appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek and the DC Animated Universe television franchises.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Jeffrey Combs" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
