#Dr. Kemp

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

Emerging into the hill-road, Kemp naturally took the downward direction, and so it was he came to run in his own person the very race he had watched with such a critical eye from the belvedere study only four days ago…

DÉJÀ VU!

I’VE JUST BEEN TO THIS PLACE BEFORE!

HIGHER ON THE STREETS—

[quailfence]

[Image description taken from alt: image 1: Griffin jerks upright as the sound of ‘knock knock’ comes from offscreen.

Image 2: Irene faces away as she opens the door partway. The person on the other side is obscured from view by the door. She says, “Dr. Kemp? What are you doing here?”

Image 3: Griffin lurches forward, exclaiming, “No! You b—“ Jack cuts him off with a “shhh” and holds an arm out in front of Griffin’s chest.

Image 4: Jack grips Griffin’s upper arm, leaning close as he whispers, “Keep your head down, and stay quiet.”

Image 5: Still facing away, Irene says to an offscreen Kemp, “Er…No, we didn’t find him, sorry.” Mina stands next to her.

Image 6: Kemp says, “Are you sure? I thought I heard—“

Image 7: Kemp looks flummoxed as Jonathan’s voice from offscreen interrupts, “Oh, that was me!”

Image 8: Jonathan sits back in an armchair, ankle crossed over his knee. His shirtsleeves are rolled up to the elbow, and he holds a kukri in one hand and a whetstone in the other. He smiles innocently as he says, “My finger slipped—I thought I’d cut myself.”

Image 9: Kemp looks disturbed, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and pupils shrunken. He says, “Er…right then.” End description.]

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Dialogue transcripts:

Panel 1

Sound effect: Knock knock

Panel 2

Irene: Dr. Kemp? What are you doing here?

Panel 3

Griffin: No! You b—

Jack: Sssh!

Panel 4

Jack: Keep your head down, and stay quiet.

Panel 5

Irene: Er…no, we didn’t find him, sorry.

Panel 6

Kemp: Are you sure? I thought I heard—

Panel 7

Jonathan (offscreen): Oh, that was me!

Panel 8

Jonathan: My finger slipped—I thought I’d cut myself.

Panel 9

Kemp: Er…right then.

[miseru346]

Intermission - The Wells Run Deeper

Once Griffin settled into his new daily life, he met one Edward Prendick, a man who also remembers everything from the previous timeline, and found himself entangled with a supernatural force in the not-so-normal serial kidnapping charge of the eccentric scientist, Sydney Atherton.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44264812

Yes that is a pun on HG Wells XD

A proper crossover between Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Beetle

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price and Valli Kemp //

Dr. Phibes Roses Again (1972) dir. Robert Fuest

[randomnessoffiction]

"Holmes the meddler! Holmes the busybody! Holmes the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!

[rebloggingrexan]

#The only reason why griffin is so cheery is because she got Kemp in trouble #If it was just her she'd be trying to beat the shit out of everyone in range

got their asses

[mudwerks]

(via The Grim Gallery: Exhibit 4664)

Valli Kemp and Vincent Price in Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

[weirdlookindog]

Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

[kandikillr]

[festive-unserious-fellow]

POV ur old friend(?) from school comes to your doorstep after getting his ass thoroughly kicked so he can tell you his lifes story and then pitch his Evil Scheme to you wdyd

[richardarmitagefanpage]

📰: Yahoo Movies UK

[frankendavis]

I made this ages ago. Pre-AI.

[quailfence]

[Image description taken from alt: image 1: Kemp says, “Are…are you planning to continue your search, then?” Beads of sweat are on his forehead, and he stares with pupils shrunken in alarm. He adds, “The knife seems a tad extreme.”

Image 2: Irene and Mina smile innocently up at him. Irene says, “No, it turns out we were chasing a red herring.” Mina adds, “We’ll be returning to London shortly.”

Image 3: Kemp half-turns away, and says, “Ah. Well, in that case, good luck with…”

Image 4: The view switches back to Jonathan holding the kukri, smiling upwards with an utterly angelic smile. Kemp continues offscreen, “…Whatever it is you’re doing.”

Image 5: Kemp continues to turn away, unnerved, as he stammers, “Er…good day to you.” Jonathan replies from offscreen, “Good day to you too, Dr. Kemp!”

Image 6: A close-up of Irene’s hand on a doorknob, pushing the door shut with a ‘click.’

Image 7: Irene’s shoulders sag and her eyes are closed as she says, “Whew– He’s gone.”

Image 8: Mina says, “Was that the right thing to do, I wonder? Lying to him like that?” Irene turns back to her and answers, “I told you about the glass, didn’t I?”

Image 9:Irene looks down thoughtfully and continues, “I want no part in handing a man over to that kind of cruelty– Guilty or not.”

10: Griffin sitting up in the bed, injured arm held against his stomach. “…” appears above him. End description.]

First page || Previous page || Next page

Dialogue transcripts:

Panel 1

Kemp: Are…are you planning to continue your search, then? The knife seems a tad extreme.

Panel 2

Irene: No, it turns out we were chasing a red herring.

Mina: We’ll be returning to London shortly.

Panel 3

Kemp: Ah. Well, in that case, good luck with…

Panel 4

Kemp (offscreen): …whatever it is you’re doing.

Panel 5

Kemp: Er…good day to you.

Jonathan (offscreen): Good day to you too, Dr. Kemp!

Panel 6

Sound effect: Click

Panel 7

Irene: Whew—he’s gone.

Panel 8

Mina: Was that the right thing to do, I wonder? Lying to him like that?

Irene: I told you about the glass, didn’t I?

Panel 9

Irene: I want no part in handing a man over to that kind of cruelty—guilty or not.

Panel 10

Griffin: …

[linguisticparadox]

Dr. Kemp's introduction is really fascinating to me, because it sets up not only his personality but also his function in the novel.

A couple of weeks ago, we had his thoughts at seeing Marvel running through the village: '“Another of those fools,” said Dr. Kemp. “Like that ass who ran into me this morning round a corner, with the ‘’Visible Man a-coming, sir!’ I can’t imagine what possesses people. One might think we were in the thirteenth century.”' These are his first words in the book, and they serve as an excellent sum-up of who he is and how he sees the world.

And so far, we might almost agree with him: although we know the Invisible Man is real, the whole story so far has read like a madcap slapstick comedy. Even Marvel, the Invisible Man's special victim, has been portrayed as a silly and rather stupid man in a silly and rather stupid situation, the stuff of modern-day sitcoms.

But then we get a sudden glimpse of the horror of Marvel's situation, and simultaneously we see that Kemp is judging at a distance, and so misjudging: "But those who saw the fugitive nearer, and perceived the abject terror on his perspiring face, being themselves in the open roadway, did not share in the doctor’s contempt." The more perceptive among us might cringe to think of our own reactions to everything that has happened to Marvel so far (and not to spoil anything, but later we will come to feel similarly about the Invisible Man, who so far has mostly just come off as kind of an asshole).

The narrative continues to paint Kemp as a rational man of science, who considers himself superior to the common rabble, with little tidbits thrown in here and there.

This week, he hears shots go off, and seems (or at least pretends) to dismiss them as nonsense, saying, “Who’s letting off revolvers in Burdock? What are the asses at now?” After that, he looks out the window and sees a crowd, which he watches for a few minutes, "during which his mind had travelled into a remote speculation of social conditions of the future." Based on his characterization up to now, we can assume he views this future with rather haughty scorn--"this country is going down the toilet, look at all these idiots," and so on.

Of course, he's more rattled than he seems, especially after the doorbell rings for seemingly no reason. But he manages to lose himself in his work again until the small hours of the morning.

Now, it only comes through in some parts, but the whole narrative is subtly framed as being told by a limited pov third person, who has evidently gathered together news articles and interviews with the various witnesses. We get only a peek at it here, with the line: "Dr. Kemp’s scientific pursuits have made him a very observant man, and as he recrossed the hall, he noticed a dark spot on the linoleum near the mat at the foot of the stairs." The tense at the start of the sentence suggests the image of Dr. Kemp sitting and telling his story, throwing in a moment of preening over his education and scientific prowess. These traits continue to receive attention with lines like "Dr. Kemp was no believer in voices"; and when we are told, "All men, however highly educated, retain some superstitious inklings," we can easily imagine Dr. Kemp rushing to defend his seemingly irrational thoughts to his interviewer.

In short, H.G. Wells tells us, plainly and repeatedly (though with a deft subtlety beneath his compact and engaging prose which characterizes his writing generally), that Dr. Kemp is highly educated, rational and scientific, and that he feels these characteristics place him above the common people.

And this, I think, is a gorgeous setup of Kemp's role in the narrative: to establish that education and rationality do not shield one from falling in with mob mentality and being complicit in the persecution of The Other.* Up to this point, we have had only comic scenes of the Invisible Man causing mayhem and blunt confusion among the simple-minded, straightforward but unimaginative denizens of small towns, the sort of people who needle a man for explanations, not to satisfy any real curiosity, but to gather fodder for gossip and win esteem in their social circles, and who consider it a grave insult when that man, a newcomer wrapped in bandages who just wants to be left alone, denies it to them.

But now, as if to head off any potential feelings of class-based superiority in the (necessarily literate, if not highly educated) audience, we have a well-educated, rational man, who considers himself Above All of That, and who views the situation exactly as we have been led to view it ourselves.

And this man, a stand-in for the rational, high-class, superior-feeling people in the audience, is immediately proven to be wrong. He misjudged the situation because he has only seen it from a distance: and the parallel with the readers, who are learning the story from a fairly removed narrative distance, ought to give us all pause.

*For the record, I think Marvel fits the bill as The Other, or ought to, as he is a homeless drifter. Certainly the Invisible Man expects to have sympathy from him on this basis! Unfortunately for him, Marvel in fact turns out to be much more comfortable among the "locals" than one might assume; and yet, in demanding his aid, the Invisible Man actually isolates and others him from his fellows, so that it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. But that's a topic for another paper essay rant entirely.

[scarletgemstone]

what if idea

disclaimer I own nothing everything belongs to the rightful owners please go and support them and be nice

what if the universal monsters were in the world of little nightmares

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price with his Dr. Phibes co-stars Valli Kemp and Fiona Lewis (1971)