Its time again for another Weekly Comics Hype. (Actually, it's past time to update this journal...) Im doing these alphabetically, but skipping around a bit, and we havent had any Alan Moore in the hype lately. If ever an omission needed rectifying, its this. When the first series of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen began in 1999, it immediately caught the attention of readers who dont often look at comics, and became a standard gift for fans of English literature. Thats because its an incredibly clever and imaginative story, and one which required Moore to put even more research into his characters than he might have had he created them himself...
You might have heard a little about this book before. Created by Alan Moore and Kevin ONeill as a loving tribute to Victoriana, in this series the British government learns that an Oriental fiend who controls the opium trade has gained access to the miracle mineral cavorite, which will give him control of Londons skies. Campion Bond, representing the nascent Secret Service, assembles a team which includes Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, Dr. Henry Jekyll, Hawley Griffin and Captain Nemo to stop their foes evil schemes.
Nothing from that point goes according to plan. These are not, after all, the most honorable of individuals.
A high-concept series like this could go off the rails pretty easily, but Moore and ONeill ground it firmly by placing the story in a world completely populated by fictional characters and archetypes. Basically, if a character appeared anywhere in English literature between 1850 and 1900, there's a good chance that they impact the story in some fashion. Even fiction from other countries influences the storyline; Edgar Allan Poes Dupin involves himself with Murray and Quatermains search for Dr. Jekyll in Paris. Copyright issues with the estate of Sax Rohmer prevented the naming of the Leagues adversary as Fu Manchu, but otherwise the series works as both an amazing game for fans of literature as well as a genuinely thrilling rollercoaster, with sequences that have never appeared in the comic medium before this mad adventure.
Alan Moore might just be the best author of cliffhangers in all of comics. His only real competition on that front has been Grant Morrison, and I question whether even he could have concocted something as downright sinister as the moment where Campion Bond reports to M and suggests that his reputation has preceded him, or the amazing scene where Mr. Hyde reveals that his eyesight is considerably different than a normal humans. What happens between Hyde and Mr. Griffin after this is one of the most jawdropping sequences in all of fiction. One acquaintance on a message board I frequent could only say this: Blimey! Bet THAT wont be in the film!
Oh, yes, the film. Yes, there was a motion picture made, by talented people who knew better and who masked their talent so firmly that its questionable they never had any. The books not like the movie.
There have been two series of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, each serialized in six supposedly-monthly miniseries which ended up taking close to a year to appear. (Then again, artist Kevin ONeill has had a long tradition of putting so much work into the material that he ends up blowing deadlines. See the first volume of Nemesis the Warlock, for starters...) The second series sees the team working to oppose the Martian invasion of Earth, in a fashion that promises that the wars of the 20th Century will dwarf anything their Victorian world has met before. A third series is said to be in the works for later this year, and the first two series are available both as trade paperbacks and very nice hardback editions.
Your local comic shop would enjoy your custom; new books ship on Wednesdays, so why not stop in after work and get friendly with the League?
You might have heard a little about this book before. Created by Alan Moore and Kevin ONeill as a loving tribute to Victoriana, in this series the British government learns that an Oriental fiend who controls the opium trade has gained access to the miracle mineral cavorite, which will give him control of Londons skies. Campion Bond, representing the nascent Secret Service, assembles a team which includes Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, Dr. Henry Jekyll, Hawley Griffin and Captain Nemo to stop their foes evil schemes.
Nothing from that point goes according to plan. These are not, after all, the most honorable of individuals.
A high-concept series like this could go off the rails pretty easily, but Moore and ONeill ground it firmly by placing the story in a world completely populated by fictional characters and archetypes. Basically, if a character appeared anywhere in English literature between 1850 and 1900, there's a good chance that they impact the story in some fashion. Even fiction from other countries influences the storyline; Edgar Allan Poes Dupin involves himself with Murray and Quatermains search for Dr. Jekyll in Paris. Copyright issues with the estate of Sax Rohmer prevented the naming of the Leagues adversary as Fu Manchu, but otherwise the series works as both an amazing game for fans of literature as well as a genuinely thrilling rollercoaster, with sequences that have never appeared in the comic medium before this mad adventure.
Alan Moore might just be the best author of cliffhangers in all of comics. His only real competition on that front has been Grant Morrison, and I question whether even he could have concocted something as downright sinister as the moment where Campion Bond reports to M and suggests that his reputation has preceded him, or the amazing scene where Mr. Hyde reveals that his eyesight is considerably different than a normal humans. What happens between Hyde and Mr. Griffin after this is one of the most jawdropping sequences in all of fiction. One acquaintance on a message board I frequent could only say this: Blimey! Bet THAT wont be in the film!
Oh, yes, the film. Yes, there was a motion picture made, by talented people who knew better and who masked their talent so firmly that its questionable they never had any. The books not like the movie.
There have been two series of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, each serialized in six supposedly-monthly miniseries which ended up taking close to a year to appear. (Then again, artist Kevin ONeill has had a long tradition of putting so much work into the material that he ends up blowing deadlines. See the first volume of Nemesis the Warlock, for starters...) The second series sees the team working to oppose the Martian invasion of Earth, in a fashion that promises that the wars of the 20th Century will dwarf anything their Victorian world has met before. A third series is said to be in the works for later this year, and the first two series are available both as trade paperbacks and very nice hardback editions.
Your local comic shop would enjoy your custom; new books ship on Wednesdays, so why not stop in after work and get friendly with the League?