[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neonomicontpb.png]]
->''"[[HarsherInHindsight Looking back]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness yes]], [[EveryoneHasStandards maybe I have gone too far...]]"''
-->-- '''Alan Moore'''., in regards to this series.

''Neonomicon'' is a four-part comic miniseries by Creator/AlanMoore from 2010. It continues the narrative of his 1994 short story ''The Courtyard'', which had been converted into a comic back in 2003.

The comic tells the story of FBI agents Brears and Lamper who are sent to continue the investigation of the occult murders that had been happening in ''The Courtyard''. They uncover everything that previously happened extremely quickly. Then [[FromBadToWorse things take a turn for the worse...]] No, not even a turn for the worse, more of a nosedive straight downhill from there.

It's worth noting that the reason for this comic's genesis was [[MoneyDearBoy largely due to some pecuniary issues Moore was having at the time]]. In an interview with ''Wired Magazine'': Moore said "I had a tax bill coming up, and I needed some money quickly. So I happened to be talking to William [A. Christensen] from Creator/AvatarPress, and he suggested that he could provide some if I was up for doing a four-part series, so I did. So although I took it to pay off the tax bill, I'm always going to make sure I try and make it the best possible story I can."

In another interview, Moore stated that it was his intention to do the exact opposite of Lovecraft's usual "[[NothingIsScarier fear of the unknown]]" shtick by showing ''everything'' (in the most graphic detail possible) regarding the "nameless rituals" and "blasphemous rites" that the author only ever alluded to. As such, the comic contains numerous explicit (some might say pornographic) sex scenes, nearly all of which involve inter-species rape.

Received a prequel/sequel entitled ''ComicBook/{{Providence}}''.
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!! Tropes:

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Despite raping her constantly, the Deep One does seem to care about Brears, helping her escape when he learns that she is pregnant. It's implied that this is just how his species naturally reproduces, and he was unaware that Brears was in distress until she actively called him on it.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Something the Deep Ones get hit with in a lot of adaptations. In the original ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth'', there was never any implication that the Deep Ones were rapists, or that the humans they had sex with (mostly men in the original text, but that's less sensational) weren't consenting.
* AdaptationalWimp: The Deep One again. He is portrayed as being unable to talk with Agent Brears, while in Lovecraft, Deep Ones were highly intelligent and sophisticated creatures that had no trouble negotiating complex treaties with humans. However, he does manage some limited communication with Brears after she's had enough of his forced intercourse, and his ability to detect her pregnancy and his willingness to not just help her escape but also exact vengeance on the cultists imply HiddenDepths (pun intended).
* AffablyEvil: Johnny Carcosa is rather chummy and easy-going for an avatar of Nyarlathotep.
* AlienGeometries: The Plateau of Leng definitely qualifies. R'lyeh is actually Agent Brears's '''womb'''.
* TheAntichrist: In this case, it turns out to be Cthulhu.
* ApocalypseMaiden: Agent Merrill Brears by the end, who is going to deliver Cthulhu.
* ArcadianInterlude: Brears has one, mid-rape. Only it's in R'lyeh. With Nyarlathotep.
* ArtificialLimbs: Carl Pearlman has a very ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell''-looking bionic hand because Sax cut off his real one.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Arguably, Agent Brears. Multiple rapes, the death of her partner, and being impregnated with Cthulhu seem to have turned her around to the idea of destroying the world by the end of the story. She does, however, point out to Sax that her mind is probably simply affected by ''what'' she's carrying in her womb.
* BiggerIsBetterInBed: PlayedWith. The Dagon cultists react positively to the size of the Deep One's penis, but Brears [[BigPrickBigProblems finds it painful after a while]].
* BlackComedy: Ever tried to turn being chain-raped into a joke? Because Alan Moore did.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Played completely straight. [[JustifiedTrope Possibly justified]] due to Moore's stated intentions to tackle the racism of [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft's works]].
* BloodIsSquickerInWater: When the FBI storms the bath under the antique shop, the Deep One already gutted three of the cultists, with their blood slowly colouring the water. The terrified officers open fire from everything they've got, and the entire pool turns crimson.
* BookEnds: The first and the last pages are identical. On on grander side of things, the story starts and ends with Brears talking with Sax.
* {{Bowdlerize}}: While the series doesn't shy away from discussing Lovecraft's infamous racial hang-ups, as is often the case with Lovecraft adaptations, the Deep One's design has been altered to conform to modern sensibilities. While the originals were described as flabby-lipped and bulgy-eyed, invoking comparisons to golliwog caricatures, the Deep One here is drawn with a lipless, sunken-eyed visage, looking like nothing so much as a humanoid coelacanth ([[AdaptationalBadass which, you have to admit, looks a whole lot cooler]]).
* CasualDangerDialogue: Played with. While Brears and her boss talk about her torment and report, they are at the front of the antique store where the cultist hideout is, which is being raided by a SWAT team. The panels jump between their very mundane conversation and all the high-octane action happening inside, mere few meters away. At one point, a member of the SWAT team who was (non-fatally) shot inside joins their conversation, while being treated by paramedics.
* CelebrityParadox:
** Sax's look and general demeanor are based upon Lovecraft's. This happens in a universe where Lovecraft and his work do exist.
** This is actually played with quite interestingly. In the original story, ''The Courtyard'', it seems like it's just another story in the Franchise/CthulhuMythos Universe taking place in modern times. It isn't until the second chapter of ''Neonomicon'' that Brears mentioned H.P. Lovecraft. Sax just never made the connection in the earlier story because he'd never heard of him, it having been written right around the time Lovecraft's works were only just starting to begin the huge resurgence in popularity they gained through the Internet.
* CosmicHorrorStory: It's an Creator/HPLovecraft story written by Creator/AlanMoore. Could it really be anything else?
* CountryMatters: Dropped by Sax when describing his neighbor, Germaine. Later, Agent Brears unleashes one of these, combined with a PrecisionFStrike, on the female cult leader who's just casually informed her that when the Deep One's finished raping her, the cult will kill her.
* CrypticConversation: During Brears's drug-induced dream as the creature is raping her, Johnny Carcosa tells her, "What [[SpeechImpediment thith]] ith, ith you're a nun, thee, Asian, merry." Brears doesn't understand this at the time ("I'm not Asian"), but after thinking about it later, she realizes what he'd actually said: [[spoiler:"What this is, is your annunciation, [[ApocalypseMaiden Mary]]."]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: The story takes the works of H.P Lovecraft to some very dark places that even Lovecraft himself danced around or demurred from going to. Let that sink in for a moment.
* DecoyProtagonist: Lamper. In the covers for Issues 1 and 2, and in the promotional teasers for the story (e.g. the summation on the back cover of the trade), he gets equal billing with Brears. Lamper also gets roughly equal time with Brears within the comic--until he's murdered less than halfway through the second issue.
* DepravedBisexual: All of the Dagon cultists qualify, participating in the sex ritual regardless of gender. The cult leader's wife takes her own turn raping Agent Brears.
* DidTheyOrDidntThey: Lamper and Brears seem perfectly at ease with getting naked around each other, and Lamper gets very defensive when a fellow agent asks if they're having sex, but nothing sexual is ever confirmed.
* DissonantSerenity: Brears comments that the FetusTerrible is probably controlling her mind in some way, given that she's not freaked out about it.
* DomedHometown: One clue that this is not our universe is that cities have pollution-filtering domes over them. This is apparently a reference to the work of journalist and futurist David Goodman Croly (also mentioned in ''ComicBook/FromHell''), another writer who, like H.P. Lovecraft himself, is chiefly remembered today for being a massive racist.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Carl Perlman asks Brears if there's any chance of them getting back together again despite the fact she's admitted she only slept with him due to sex addiction brought on by serious self esteem issues. Not only has she just told him that she's so disgusted by him that having intercourse with him is equivalent to cutting herself, he's told her that he hopes she'll eventually feel bad enough to do it again. This seemingly throwaway scene is probably a major factor in Brears' decision to [[spoiler:embrace her role as Cthulhu's mother]].
* DramaticDeadpan: Agent Brears uses this when she visits Sax for the second time. Seeing as how she's using it to inform him that her partner was killed by the Dagon cultists, who went on to gang-rape her and turn her over to a Deep One, who raped her repeatedly, in the process of which she became impregnated with C'thulhu, but she's decided that humans are basically "vermin" so she's more or less okay with the impending death of the species, the effect is terrifying. Sax himself is terrified.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''The Courtyard'' had not yet established the later books' LiteraryAgentHypothesis approach to Lovecraft and his work, nor the use of real places like Salem instead of Lovecraft's [[LovecraftCountry fictional communities]] and different names for the "real world" counterparts of his characters. Also, the version of Pickman (or "Pitman")'s painting "Subway Accident" that appears is completely different from the one depicted in ''ComicBook/{{Providence}}'', featuring what appears to be the JerseyDevil and several other different monsters instead of just the Ghouls.
* EldritchAbomination: It's based on Lovecraft. Agent Brears turns out to be Cthulhu's mother.
* EvilOldFolks: The youngest of the cultists are middle aged, but most of them are elderly. You get to see them all naked. And those are probably the least disturbing images.
* ExoticEquipment: We get to see quite a bit of Deep One penis, and it's pretty much a regular penis. Played somewhat straight in that Deep Ones seem to be able to go at it for hours without any kind of male refractory period at all. Some of the sex toys depicted are pretty out there, as well.
* ExtremeOmnisexual: The Dagon cultists are this to a tee.
* {{Fanservice}}: The majority of the nudity has the opposite effect, but the few pages of Brears undressing in her hotel room certainly qualify.
* FanDisservice: The Comic! Issue #1 starts out as a fairly typical PoliceProcedural; by Issue #2 things are getting weirder... until the last few pages. [[FromBadToWorse It's all downhill from there. So very, very far downhill...]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: The Dagon cultists. While they initially appear to be just eccentric folk with weird fetishes who enjoy secret orgies (and [[StepfordSmiler who grin too much]]), they ultimately come off as more repugnant than the Mythos beings the protagonists meet.
* FishPeople: Again, [[Creator/HPLovecraft it's Lovecraft.]] And we get to see '''exactly''' how those Deep One hybrids get made.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Johnny Carcosa is an avatar of Nyarlathotep. Keep in mind that he's a creepy guy without lower part of his face, covered by a veil that makes it even more disturbing.
* {{Gorn}}: A few pages of it and yet compared with [[RapeAsDrama what happens later]], a mere blood splatter and some guts no longer looks so disturbing.
* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: In proper CyberPunk fashion, Pachinko arcades are a common sight in the grim, gritty early 2000s as seen from the '90s America of ''The Courtyard''. The Asian Financial Crisis was still a few years away when the prose story the comic was based on was written.
* HumansAreBastards: Agent Brears is jaded right from the opening, having a very low opinion about humans, but after her experiences, she fully goes along with the idea of humanity [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy being just wiped out]] by the Great Old Ones.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The Deep One is just [[BlueAndOrangeMorality doing his thing]], while being a NonMaliciousMonster. The cultists are a bunch of murderous rapists, ''because''. It's their lack of typical Mythos cultists' motivations in tune of helping, serving or being maddened some EldritchAbomination that makes them really monstrous.
* KickTheDog: The female cult leader telling Agent Brears that without her wig, she's not even that good-looking: this is after Brears has been repeatedly raped by the cult and by their quasi-pet Deep One.
* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: The comics take place around the time they were written but lots of the technology and other things are more advanced, or at least... different. In addition to the aforementioned domes all of the phone booths have built-in fax machines, Louis Farrakhan has a holiday named after him, UsefulNotes/BillClinton declared war on Syria in the mid-1990s, and the US dollar has recently undergone a revaluation.
** This is at least partly due to the original short story version of ''The Courtyard'' having been written in the 1990s but taking place in 2004.
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: By the end of the story, Brears is perfectly ok with the end of humanity. Partially because she's carrying a Great Old One in her womb. Partially because of all the suffering the cultists caused to her.
* MasqueradeEnforcer: FBI unintentionally turns into one of those, as they refuse to accept Brears' initial report, as it contains too many "impossible", weird things that just can't be true. Then the assault team has a direct confrontation with the Deep One. Brears' boss is instantly far more disturbed, since that makes every ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt other]]'' [[EldritchAbomination element]] of her report real.
* MentalTimeTravel: Lovecraft's writings and other Franchise/CthulhuMythos stories and visions of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s are actually a result of four-dimensional "echoes" of powerful, highly evolved beings from Earth's distant future.
* MushroomSamba: Discussed. The FBI won't accept Brears first report, in which she described in detail being continuously raped by the Deep One. She was drugged and without her contacts. The cultists probably had [[PeopleInRubberSuits some guy in a suit]] for a fetish or other fucked-up thing. The related conversation happens before Perlman is introduced to the body of the very Deep One Brears described.
* NobodyPoops: Averted, up to being a plot point. Germaine defecates in a sink (off-panel, but the feces is shown), and Brears urinates by the side of the pool while in captivity (on-panel). The latter becomes plot-relevant when the Deep One smells (and tastes) her urine, and discovers that she's pregnant.
* NonMaliciousMonster: The Deep One; he rapes Agent Brears, multiple times, but he doesn't seem to understand that he's harming her and he doesn't brutalize her wantonly, to him it's nothing more than mating. Plus, when he understands that she's pregnant, he gently brings her into the water, breaks the gate that confined her with his free hand, helps her escape, and then goes back and proceeds to rip the Dagon cultists apart to prevent them from harming her.
* OccultDetective: The two protagonists. Not that they're fully aware of this at the start.
* POVCam: Few of the panels from the Issue #2 are heavily distorted, without explaining what they even represent. The issue ends with the Deep One surfacing - and it was his point of view.
* PlaceBeyondTime: Both R'lyeh and the Plateau of Leng.
* PuttingOnTheReich:
** Sax in the mental hospital has [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson carved a swastika into his own forehead]]. The mental hospital clerk refers to him as "Der Führer".
** In ''The Courtyard'' he's merely a casual bigot who uses a lot of racial slurs, which seems to be Moore trying to stay true to the tone of actual Lovecraft stories, but he goes whole-hog with it once he loses his mind.
* RapeAsDrama: A '''deeply''' disquieting look at the "blasphemous rites" Lovecraft talks about in his works. The ending of Issue #2 and pretty much entire #3 is a continuous rape of Brears, to the point she goes catatonic from it. By the end of the story, she's mind-broken not just in the Mythos sense.
* ReallyGetsAround: Agent Merrill Brears is a recovering sex addict. This is not played for laughs. In fact, in the end, her boss solemnly apologises her for ever getting her involved in the cult that all FBI knew about was some shady sex ring.
* ShoutOut:
** DiscussedTrope; the miniseries stops dancing around the issue of the ludicrous number of Creator/HPLovecraft references in ''TheCourtyard'', and outright addresses them. The FBI agents discuss whether the writings may be influencing a series of occult killings, or whether [[FromBadToWorse it might be the other way around...]]
** In a rare, and somewhat inexplicable, non-Lovecraft one, when Johnny Carcosa confronts the police he's dressed ''exactly'' like [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Edward Elric]] of all people. ''May'' have something to do with the fact Lovecraft wrote a story called ''The Alchemist'' as a lad. The leg armor on the asylum guards also looks suspiciously similar to the armor plating on Ed's artificial leg.
** [[Literature/TheKingInYellow Johnny Carcosa, a character who wears a yellow mask that is strongly implied to be part of his face?]]
** The Vietnamese cultist named Duk may be a reference to Moore's song, ''Sinister Ducks''.
* SpeechImpediment: Johnny Carcosa doesn't have lower half of his face. All his words are slurred.
* StarfishAliens: Again, par for the course.
* SubhumanSurfacingShot: The cover to one issue of the miniseries depicts a [[FishPeople Deep One]] slowly rising out of the waters of the underground pool, slowly zeroing in on Agent Brears from behind. For good measure, both parties are naked, further increasing the sense of menace.
* TimeSkip: The ending takes place three months after the main part of the story.
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