What do you think?
Rate this book
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #3.2
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969
The second volume detailing the exploits of Miss Wilhelmina Murray and her extraordinary colleagues.
Volume two takes place almost 60 years after the events of Century 1910, in the psychedelic haze of Swinging London in 1969 - a place where Tadukic Acid Diethylamide 26 is the drug of choice and where different underworlds are starting to overlap dangerously to an accompaniment of sit-ins and sitars.
Volume two takes place almost 60 years after the events of Century 1910, in the psychedelic haze of Swinging London in 1969 - a place where Tadukic Acid Diethylamide 26 is the drug of choice and where different underworlds are starting to overlap dangerously to an accompaniment of sit-ins and sitars.
80 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2011
30 people are currently reading
1307 people want to read
About the author
Alan Moore
1,578 books21.7k followersAlan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
May 31, 2012
Oof, where to start with this mess? Years ago when the “League” series began, I enjoyed the fact that Moore had used his vast literary knowledge to craft an adventure story within a kind of alternate Victorian world filled with magic and mystery, incorporating the best of Victorian lit into the books. But things got weirder. Things tend to get weirder when Alan Moore is involved but he didn’t seem to have disappeared up his own…self as he has done on past occasions.
“Black Dossier” was really strange, Moore thinking his over-written and, frankly, pretentious prose being worth its own sections, unconstrained by panels. Unfortunately the panels forced Moore to be creative and self-edit his scripts to fit onto the page. Without this constraint he’s free to wander around and around in circles, boring the reader to death.
Then “Century” began and the series was catapulted into the 20th century. “1910” was a very weak effort with very little going on and what actually happened could have been summarised in a page if the writer actually got right down to it.
Honestly, with the disappointment of “Black Dossier” and “1910” I wasn’t expecting “1969” to be an improvement and I was right. Moore romanticises the 60s with all the clichés every other writer exploring the era has done. Hippies, groovy London, the emergence of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll fills each page in lieu of any semblance of plot. I have no idea what the point of this series is now – something about Oliver Haddo, the protagonist of Somerset Maugham’s novel “The Magician” a fictional take on Aleister Crowley, trying to bring about the end of the world? Haddo can’t be killed which makes for a tedious exercise in trying to kill him – and they don’t. Yaaaaaawn.
The scenes in the book are laughable at best. The excess depiction of sex and drugs are totally unnecessary and the endless writing down of music lyrics fails to bring to the reader the euphoria of real music – comics do not communicate music well, at all. The lyrics though are abominable. Moore in his spare time fancies himself a singer/songwriter despite being unable to sing or play any instruments. The lyrics in this book shows how inept he is at this creative form. And the “psychic battle” at the end? Just pathetic.
But by the end I didn’t care. The story is a mess, the charms of the League were totally missing, this might as well have been a completely other series. Allan Quatermain is and remains a dull character. Mina has no powers or any personality and is completely at odds with the Mina of previous volumes. And Lando? Just annoying, like Jar Jar Binks. If you think “Carry On” type innuendo is both amusing and funny then you’ll probably think Lando is an irascible charming scallywag – anyone else will just find him annoying.
While I used to like the LXG, I don’t anymore. “Century” is a total misstep for this series and Moore has handled it poorly, completely losing sight of what made the series interesting in the first place. “1969” features a cast of characters you just want to punch in the face for being so bloody annoying, stupid and pretentious (woo, I do magic! Black magic! Wooo!) and marks the end of my interest in this series and I won’t pick up the next volume. If you’re new to Moore and wondering why he’s so highly thought of, I recommend the excellent “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, for brilliant storytelling and writing.
“Black Dossier” was really strange, Moore thinking his over-written and, frankly, pretentious prose being worth its own sections, unconstrained by panels. Unfortunately the panels forced Moore to be creative and self-edit his scripts to fit onto the page. Without this constraint he’s free to wander around and around in circles, boring the reader to death.
Then “Century” began and the series was catapulted into the 20th century. “1910” was a very weak effort with very little going on and what actually happened could have been summarised in a page if the writer actually got right down to it.
Honestly, with the disappointment of “Black Dossier” and “1910” I wasn’t expecting “1969” to be an improvement and I was right. Moore romanticises the 60s with all the clichés every other writer exploring the era has done. Hippies, groovy London, the emergence of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll fills each page in lieu of any semblance of plot. I have no idea what the point of this series is now – something about Oliver Haddo, the protagonist of Somerset Maugham’s novel “The Magician” a fictional take on Aleister Crowley, trying to bring about the end of the world? Haddo can’t be killed which makes for a tedious exercise in trying to kill him – and they don’t. Yaaaaaawn.
The scenes in the book are laughable at best. The excess depiction of sex and drugs are totally unnecessary and the endless writing down of music lyrics fails to bring to the reader the euphoria of real music – comics do not communicate music well, at all. The lyrics though are abominable. Moore in his spare time fancies himself a singer/songwriter despite being unable to sing or play any instruments. The lyrics in this book shows how inept he is at this creative form. And the “psychic battle” at the end? Just pathetic.
But by the end I didn’t care. The story is a mess, the charms of the League were totally missing, this might as well have been a completely other series. Allan Quatermain is and remains a dull character. Mina has no powers or any personality and is completely at odds with the Mina of previous volumes. And Lando? Just annoying, like Jar Jar Binks. If you think “Carry On” type innuendo is both amusing and funny then you’ll probably think Lando is an irascible charming scallywag – anyone else will just find him annoying.
While I used to like the LXG, I don’t anymore. “Century” is a total misstep for this series and Moore has handled it poorly, completely losing sight of what made the series interesting in the first place. “1969” features a cast of characters you just want to punch in the face for being so bloody annoying, stupid and pretentious (woo, I do magic! Black magic! Wooo!) and marks the end of my interest in this series and I won’t pick up the next volume. If you’re new to Moore and wondering why he’s so highly thought of, I recommend the excellent “Saga of the Swamp Thing”, for brilliant storytelling and writing.
January 6, 2018
I rather like the League and Alan Moore. So it was with disappointment I read this 1969 set story. For one thing I despise the '60s. The clothes, the people, the hippies, the style, etc. I find it as appelaing as stepping in semi-soft dog feces. So this kitchy version of the League did nothing for me. Some people are killing actors for some cult. The League is called in..and then they proceed to bore the piss out of me with their dumbass adventures..I really could have cared less. I half expected Scooby Doo to jump out on one of the panels. This was almost a DNF, but I leafed through the book so I know the ending. I'll pass on this garbage- and find some of the better League books (and there are PLENTY). But hey if you're still stuck in the summer of love..or feel that hippies have something to say about the world (and if you believe that, then you likely belive that the religious have something to say as well-well bully for you!) then you'll not understand my disdain for this time period. Why you might even like this crap.
July 18, 2016
Ovog puta prica je mnogo normalnija mada jos uvek uvrnuto do bola al mi se svidja posto se finu uklapa u citavu hipi fazu psihodelije tako da ima smisla. Plus svidja mi se dizajn odece. Groovy man :)
February 15, 2017
The Century volume I'd been keenest to read - I actually bought it 3 years ago but had to return it as it was unsuitable for an e-ink Kindle or the then-current desktop incarnation. Still pushed a lot of the right buttons for me, but not quite as much fun /good as the 1910 instalment.
Biggest disappointment was that some of the fashions weren't quite right. The men's clothes were mostly spot on for what you'd see in the background in 60s films, but most of the women's were 4 years out of date: mod -> hippy is a massive style change in a short time, but a very significant one. Orlando and Quatermain looked fashionable, and pretty hot to the extent that comics people can, but poor Mina usually resembled an air hostess Never gets to wear the military dress jacket from the cover. And she wastrying to be fashionable - with slang - as well; the costume was all out of kilter.
I'd really been looking forward to the cultural references, but they were too undisguised for it to be fun spotting most of them, most bleedingly obvious of all a character who was transparently Mick Jagger / Turner in Performance. Though would the Harry Potter one have been quite so transparent if I hadn't accidentally just looked at a friend's review of the 2009 instalment?
The dreamlike feeling of the 1910 episode didn't quite gel this time, despite, or maybe because of, characters being on psychedelics (whose experiences are inevitably weirder than the surreality from mere tiredness).
Art still fun though sadly not *quite* as sharp as in part 1, sometimes due to guest artists; and O'Neill had changed his style slightly, perhaps to match the era in some way, slightly messier. (His was still recognisable due to the profusion of nipples... too much of a cultural norm to describe as a fetish, probably, but it's like watching a Tarantino film and noticing all the feet...) Some wonderful colourful psychedelic-ish panels at least. But their styling could have been more 60s - often more like messy / adult versions of 80s cartoons, all those rainbows.
A very nice touch, though, to have several panels set in the 40s in an alternative, slightly sepia, colour palette, and style - sharper. Did feel like the difference between them as between watching films from a couple of decades apart. And great that Iain Sinclair was travelling in time through books now: War of the Worlds, 1984...
This sounds like less than a 4 star review, but I like the characters and their struggles with trying to maintain a triad and come to terms with being immortal and do their cartoon hero stuff.
The stories at the end didn't really grab me this time with. Also a bit forced to re-use the golliwog theme and politicise it, when in the previous volume it read as if written with genuine innocence as a surreal story about old toys.
Biggest disappointment was that some of the fashions weren't quite right. The men's clothes were mostly spot on for what you'd see in the background in 60s films, but most of the women's were 4 years out of date: mod -> hippy is a massive style change in a short time, but a very significant one. Orlando and Quatermain looked fashionable, and pretty hot to the extent that comics people can, but poor Mina usually resembled an air hostess Never gets to wear the military dress jacket from the cover. And she wastrying to be fashionable - with slang - as well; the costume was all out of kilter.
I'd really been looking forward to the cultural references, but they were too undisguised for it to be fun spotting most of them, most bleedingly obvious of all a character who was transparently Mick Jagger / Turner in Performance. Though would the Harry Potter one have been quite so transparent if I hadn't accidentally just looked at a friend's review of the 2009 instalment?
The dreamlike feeling of the 1910 episode didn't quite gel this time, despite, or maybe because of, characters being on psychedelics (whose experiences are inevitably weirder than the surreality from mere tiredness).
Art still fun though sadly not *quite* as sharp as in part 1, sometimes due to guest artists; and O'Neill had changed his style slightly, perhaps to match the era in some way, slightly messier. (His was still recognisable due to the profusion of nipples... too much of a cultural norm to describe as a fetish, probably, but it's like watching a Tarantino film and noticing all the feet...) Some wonderful colourful psychedelic-ish panels at least. But their styling could have been more 60s - often more like messy / adult versions of 80s cartoons, all those rainbows.
A very nice touch, though, to have several panels set in the 40s in an alternative, slightly sepia, colour palette, and style - sharper. Did feel like the difference between them as between watching films from a couple of decades apart. And great that Iain Sinclair was travelling in time through books now: War of the Worlds, 1984...
This sounds like less than a 4 star review, but I like the characters and their struggles with trying to maintain a triad and come to terms with being immortal and do their cartoon hero stuff.
The stories at the end didn't really grab me this time with. Also a bit forced to re-use the golliwog theme and politicise it, when in the previous volume it read as if written with genuine innocence as a surreal story about old toys.
January 30, 2015
"Back in the summer of SIX-TY NINE!!!"
Seriously though -- Dracula's ex girlfriend tripping balls at (Jekyll and) Hyde Park? While the astral form of some Crowley-esque magician attempts to possess her body, and that of the Jagger-esque fool on stage? What more do you people WANT?!?!
I, too, enjoyed the Victorian setting of the original series, but it had to go somewhere. Moore could've done a lot worse!
Seriously though -- Dracula's ex girlfriend tripping balls at (Jekyll and) Hyde Park? While the astral form of some Crowley-esque magician attempts to possess her body, and that of the Jagger-esque fool on stage? What more do you people WANT?!?!
I, too, enjoyed the Victorian setting of the original series, but it had to go somewhere. Moore could've done a lot worse!
August 3, 2011
Well, that was worth waiting for! Honestly, it's bit of a bummer (man) - in fact, "a bit" is underselling it - the sense of defeat and despair is palpable by the end. But then, this is a three-parter and if the long wait may make each chapter "feel" like a standalone, one shouldn't walk away from this feeling utterly despondent. But, still... a stone-cold bummer.
I imagine those who hate the 60s in a reactionary way would hate this. And those who blindly love the 60s would hate this. Which means it's doing something right. Those who stupidly celebrate the commodified ("Turn it up, it's Freedom Rock!"/ ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) version of the 1960s are idiots. Those who stupidly believe the neo-conservative, Fox/Exxon news version of 1960's history ("Hippie Fascists, Feminazis, drug addicts and lazy commies") are idiots as well. All time periods are complicated and become even less easy to understand for those who come after, despite primary texts provided by those living at the time. It's just human nature to want to telescope and dumb down, the better to both feel original in one's own time and be lazy about one's own responsibility for interacting with history (while avoiding the crushing feeling of endless circularity of it all).
(...I hear the next big thing is the Singularity! That's the way we're going to solve all the world's problems while not having to actually do any heavy lifting, commit to any discipline, or face our own awfulness.... bunch of rubes...)
CENTURY: 1969 does a nice job of capturing both the breathless rush of possibility of those heady days, and the darker undercurrents as old power-systems reared their heads and took advantage of those naive enough to believe that identifying problems meant you had solved them, that hedonism was an end in itself, and that all you actually needed was love, despite all evidence to the contrary. As usual, it's choc-a-bloc with references. And as usual, some (mostly younger) readers complain about that and say it makes the whole thing an exercise in trainspotting. But honestly, that's just a dodge to cover up the feeling of insecurity and inferiority caused by being overwhelmed with so much pop-culture history that can't easily be soaked up on Wikipedia and spat back smugly and knowingly in a mash-up. (Sorry, youngsters, got to do your work - now buckle down and get reading about your own genre's history instead of being dismissive of "old stuff").
Well, no... actually, you don't "have" to do anything - to put paid to the pop-cult reference trainspotting dodge, here's the story in a nutshell: intrepid heroes attempt to stop evil magician whose machinations involve possessing the body of the charismatic lead singer in a rock and roll band. Complications ensue.
You don't need to have seen GET CARTER (the original, please) or PERFORMANCE, nor have ever heard The Rolling Stones or The Beatles, or know anything about the Kray Brothers, Crowley or LSD, to understand this story at all... but for God's sake, why would you deny yourself the experience, wisdom, fun and all around horizon-expanding joy to be gained by looking into these topics? Why? Is the past that scary? Are you so super-smart?
Next complaint - "yeah, okay, but it's an easy story without much depth". Really? I found Mina's inability to deal with immortality, eternally chasing the youth zeitgeist, while eternally worrying about being "old", to be a perfect summing up of the 60's as mirrored through her character (even more so, a poignantly "more so", by the understanding that her previous brush with an offer of "immortality" was horrific and left her scarred - physically, to be sure, but as the bad trip she suffers in this book shows, mentally as well). Ditto Orlando, who finally becomes interesting here when we realize hir's not really a "hero" (or "heroine") so much as a bored jade, tired of his immortal life and ping-ponging gender. And, again, the "queerness" and gender bending of the 60's is wonderfully mirrored through Lando's character. And then there's stolid, resolute Allan Quartermain, bemused but, sadly, blindsided by old habits that, as we all know, were hard to escape in this time of rampant narcotics abuse.
Someone in another Goodreads review made some crack about the League not being very effective heroes. Really? Moriarty and Fu Manchu's plan scuttled, successful repulsion of Martian invasion on completion of secret mission, the uncovering of a heinous crime by a corrupt political leader, and now, at great personal sacrifice, . Not effective enough? There's always monthly superhero comics, man...
But yeah, the end is dark and sad and makes one wonder if Haddo was telling the truth when he said he'd cursed the group. But then, the latter half of last century was pretty dark and sad as well. Still, up from the ashes.....
Details I savored: The Rutles! The Saint and Mr. Bond in a car smash-up! Adam Adamant gets cockblocked by even older, daring-do heroes (and all their bragging is the truth!). The switcheroo scene with Haddo on his deathbed. Jerry Cornelius in negative space. The final curse of Dracula. Mick Jagger bums the crowd. Good stuff, all. Sorry there were no GOODIES (yeah, I know, they were 70's but still, I hoped for a glimpse of the 3-person bike), or Mr. Apollo... and sorry for Mina, and 'Lando, and Allan. Let's hope 2009 makes things better in some way...
...And I hear that's a HARRY POTTER character making a conspicuous, groping cretin of himself, taking advantage of a freaked-out Mina. Nice that he got a bit of a comeuppance. Maybe it will get some young readers to check this out, and maybe even a small percentage of them will be intrigued enough by their own pop-culture history to look (as Ken Kesey would have it)..."Further!"
I imagine those who hate the 60s in a reactionary way would hate this. And those who blindly love the 60s would hate this. Which means it's doing something right. Those who stupidly celebrate the commodified ("Turn it up, it's Freedom Rock!"/ ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) version of the 1960s are idiots. Those who stupidly believe the neo-conservative, Fox/Exxon news version of 1960's history ("Hippie Fascists, Feminazis, drug addicts and lazy commies") are idiots as well. All time periods are complicated and become even less easy to understand for those who come after, despite primary texts provided by those living at the time. It's just human nature to want to telescope and dumb down, the better to both feel original in one's own time and be lazy about one's own responsibility for interacting with history (while avoiding the crushing feeling of endless circularity of it all).
(...I hear the next big thing is the Singularity! That's the way we're going to solve all the world's problems while not having to actually do any heavy lifting, commit to any discipline, or face our own awfulness.... bunch of rubes...)
CENTURY: 1969 does a nice job of capturing both the breathless rush of possibility of those heady days, and the darker undercurrents as old power-systems reared their heads and took advantage of those naive enough to believe that identifying problems meant you had solved them, that hedonism was an end in itself, and that all you actually needed was love, despite all evidence to the contrary. As usual, it's choc-a-bloc with references. And as usual, some (mostly younger) readers complain about that and say it makes the whole thing an exercise in trainspotting. But honestly, that's just a dodge to cover up the feeling of insecurity and inferiority caused by being overwhelmed with so much pop-culture history that can't easily be soaked up on Wikipedia and spat back smugly and knowingly in a mash-up. (Sorry, youngsters, got to do your work - now buckle down and get reading about your own genre's history instead of being dismissive of "old stuff").
Well, no... actually, you don't "have" to do anything - to put paid to the pop-cult reference trainspotting dodge, here's the story in a nutshell: intrepid heroes attempt to stop evil magician whose machinations involve possessing the body of the charismatic lead singer in a rock and roll band. Complications ensue.
You don't need to have seen GET CARTER (the original, please) or PERFORMANCE, nor have ever heard The Rolling Stones or The Beatles, or know anything about the Kray Brothers, Crowley or LSD, to understand this story at all... but for God's sake, why would you deny yourself the experience, wisdom, fun and all around horizon-expanding joy to be gained by looking into these topics? Why? Is the past that scary? Are you so super-smart?
Next complaint - "yeah, okay, but it's an easy story without much depth". Really? I found Mina's inability to deal with immortality, eternally chasing the youth zeitgeist, while eternally worrying about being "old", to be a perfect summing up of the 60's as mirrored through her character (even more so, a poignantly "more so", by the understanding that her previous brush with an offer of "immortality" was horrific and left her scarred - physically, to be sure, but as the bad trip she suffers in this book shows, mentally as well). Ditto Orlando, who finally becomes interesting here when we realize hir's not really a "hero" (or "heroine") so much as a bored jade, tired of his immortal life and ping-ponging gender. And, again, the "queerness" and gender bending of the 60's is wonderfully mirrored through Lando's character. And then there's stolid, resolute Allan Quartermain, bemused but, sadly, blindsided by old habits that, as we all know, were hard to escape in this time of rampant narcotics abuse.
Someone in another Goodreads review made some crack about the League not being very effective heroes. Really? Moriarty and Fu Manchu's plan scuttled, successful repulsion of Martian invasion on completion of secret mission, the uncovering of a heinous crime by a corrupt political leader, and now, at great personal sacrifice, . Not effective enough? There's always monthly superhero comics, man...
But yeah, the end is dark and sad and makes one wonder if Haddo was telling the truth when he said he'd cursed the group. But then, the latter half of last century was pretty dark and sad as well. Still, up from the ashes.....
Details I savored: The Rutles! The Saint and Mr. Bond in a car smash-up! Adam Adamant gets cockblocked by even older, daring-do heroes (and all their bragging is the truth!). The switcheroo scene with Haddo on his deathbed. Jerry Cornelius in negative space. The final curse of Dracula. Mick Jagger bums the crowd. Good stuff, all. Sorry there were no GOODIES (yeah, I know, they were 70's but still, I hoped for a glimpse of the 3-person bike), or Mr. Apollo... and sorry for Mina, and 'Lando, and Allan. Let's hope 2009 makes things better in some way...
...And I hear that's a HARRY POTTER character making a conspicuous, groping cretin of himself, taking advantage of a freaked-out Mina. Nice that he got a bit of a comeuppance. Maybe it will get some young readers to check this out, and maybe even a small percentage of them will be intrigued enough by their own pop-culture history to look (as Ken Kesey would have it)..."Further!"
October 16, 2015
Every book in this series as been interesting,
There is nothing redeeming or good about it.
Here is a recipie.
SURVIVING 1969
For this we need minor ingredients for happiness.
2 House bricks
preperation:
unzip trousers and release Mr Peepee and the happysacks.
place a brick in the left and repeat for right hand.
please place contents released from pants between bricks and........
WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, feels good yes? Reppeat until contented and then burn said book. BETTER?
There is nothing redeeming or good about it.
Here is a recipie.
SURVIVING 1969
For this we need minor ingredients for happiness.
2 House bricks
preperation:
unzip trousers and release Mr Peepee and the happysacks.
place a brick in the left and repeat for right hand.
please place contents released from pants between bricks and........
WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, feels good yes? Reppeat until contented and then burn said book. BETTER?
July 7, 2019
What a mess! This series deteriorates with each volume and the second half of this one was just one long, boring drugged-out psychedelic trip. It's so sad that the concept of LXG has been so mishandled.
June 19, 2013
I did wonder how Century would play for Moore since the characters he references would still be protected under copyright. Of course, after the magnificent way he handled Black Dossier, often using Kevin O'Neill's art to say volumes as to who the characters are, never mentioning them by full name (or changing the spelling of the name such as Terner). I loved the parallel story involving Jack Carter, one of my favorite Caine characters, especially since this tale takes place just before the events in Get Carter.
One thing about Moore's work with all the League stories is how much he completely delves into the world he builds around the characters. There are so many references it's enough to drive anyone mad hunting them all down. I wonder if Nevins is tired yet. We have three immortals, one over 3000 while the other two approach their first century, and Mina is completely tired of it. She's been trying to adjust as the times change around her, trying to stay as young as she appears, and it's obviously wearing on her. Having to track down Haddo during all this insanity doesn't help.
Immersed in the drug-fused free love of the late sixties, we get little references to Rosemary's Baby (tied to Haddo, along with a reference to either the Omen or Good Omens, either of which is great), Doctor Who (Mina sees a Dalek amongst multiple other things during a drug trip), even Harry Potter (that one nearly sent me out of my chair, especially what becomes of Mina's new friend Tom, who's middle name is a MARVEL and who's last name is a CONUNDRUM).
This, for me, was a step up from 1910. Can't wait to see how things are resolved in 2009 (even though a friend has already told me a little about it).
One thing about Moore's work with all the League stories is how much he completely delves into the world he builds around the characters. There are so many references it's enough to drive anyone mad hunting them all down. I wonder if Nevins is tired yet. We have three immortals, one over 3000 while the other two approach their first century, and Mina is completely tired of it. She's been trying to adjust as the times change around her, trying to stay as young as she appears, and it's obviously wearing on her. Having to track down Haddo during all this insanity doesn't help.
Immersed in the drug-fused free love of the late sixties, we get little references to Rosemary's Baby (tied to Haddo, along with a reference to either the Omen or Good Omens, either of which is great), Doctor Who (Mina sees a Dalek amongst multiple other things during a drug trip), even Harry Potter (that one nearly sent me out of my chair, especially what becomes of Mina's new friend Tom, who's middle name is a MARVEL and who's last name is a CONUNDRUM).
This, for me, was a step up from 1910. Can't wait to see how things are resolved in 2009 (even though a friend has already told me a little about it).
June 17, 2011
The new 96 page chapter of Moore and O'Neill's acclaimed series finds the immortal trio of Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, and Orlando far from the Victorian roots of their previous adventures. Set in London near the end of the mod-sixties, the group continue their century-long war with Alastair Crowley, begun in
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910
. New allies for the League include Jerry Cornelius and Jack Carter (from the novel
Jack's Return Home
, popularized as the Michael Caine film Get Carter). Moore does an exquisite job of incorporating the League within the chaotic world of 1969. Perhaps the finest installment since the first series, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 concludes with a shocking turn of events, leaving the reader eager for the concluding book.
April 3, 2015
Lo mejor que se puede decir de este volumen es que mejora al anterior, lo que tampoco tiene demasiado mérito.
Una Liga reducida a tres miembros (Mina, Quatermain y Orlando) recorre el Londres de 1969 intentando detener el nacimiento del Moonchild que traerá el Apocalipsis. Paralelamente Mina tendrá que asumir el precio de su perpetua juventud.
La historia está narrada a desgana, como para cumplir el expediente. Se deja leer pero poco más. Además me hizo mucha gracia descubrir al 2º Doctor (Doctor who?) en una de las viñetas, aunque estoy seguro de que hay más referencias que me he perdido por mi poco conocimiento de la cultura popular británica.
Otra cosa que me ha llamado la atención es la ración mayor de sexo comparada con los otros volúmenes. Se podría interpretar como una forma de centrarnos en la cultura del amor del 69, pero más bien da la impresión de ser una forma de distraer la atención de la floja historia (o si no no entiendo esa obsesión de mostrar las bragas de Mina cada dos páginas).
Una Liga reducida a tres miembros (Mina, Quatermain y Orlando) recorre el Londres de 1969 intentando detener el nacimiento del Moonchild que traerá el Apocalipsis. Paralelamente Mina tendrá que asumir el precio de su perpetua juventud.
La historia está narrada a desgana, como para cumplir el expediente. Se deja leer pero poco más. Además me hizo mucha gracia descubrir al 2º Doctor (Doctor who?) en una de las viñetas, aunque estoy seguro de que hay más referencias que me he perdido por mi poco conocimiento de la cultura popular británica.
Otra cosa que me ha llamado la atención es la ración mayor de sexo comparada con los otros volúmenes. Se podría interpretar como una forma de centrarnos en la cultura del amor del 69, pero más bien da la impresión de ser una forma de distraer la atención de la floja historia (o si no no entiendo esa obsesión de mostrar las bragas de Mina cada dos páginas).
February 24, 2024
Now we're in the groovy sixties! It is very generic 60s with hippies love drugs rock and roll.
There's a long musical segment playing on the Stones' Sympathy for the Devil themes.
Mina is still the only interesting character of the protagonists. She's struggling with her immortality.
There's a long musical segment playing on the Stones' Sympathy for the Devil themes.
Mina is still the only interesting character of the protagonists. She's struggling with her immortality.
April 9, 2012
Is it just me or is the League just not as much fun anymore? Moore celebrates the liberty he has out from under the thumb of a mainstream publisher, but I would argue that his best work was done when he was operating within the confines of the system he complains so much about.
Starting with Black Dossier (which had many moments of brilliance, don't get me wrong), Moore has been embracing this "Pornography as Art" idea. That's the mad wizard of England's deal, and as long as he is at peace with the serpent god that he worships I'm not one to judge. There is an audience for Lost Girls but it ain't me. I love the League for the interactions between literary and filmic creations, and it is a bit hard to pay attention with graphic scenes on essentially every page.
Century 1969 picks up with the occultist's plot from Century 1910, but oddly gives no indication of how the issue of Captain Nemo's vengeful daughter who burned through the waterfront so spectacularly in the first volume was resolved. The League has been whittled down to three immortals: Alan, Mina, and Orlando. I miss the adventures of a big crew, but this does allow Moore to focus on the complex relationships of these characters who have spent the better part of a century together. It being the sixties, the emphasis is most decidedly on sex, drugs, rock and roll, and more sex and drugs. Moore has always had an ear for dialog, and it is pretty cool to see Michael Caine's cockney Jack Carter walking and talking through the swinging streets of London.
I'm up for the next book, Century 2009 simply because of the promise of seeing how Moore handles none other than TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE as a villain. After that, maybe Moore will put the League to rest and explore his pursuits in other writing.
Starting with Black Dossier (which had many moments of brilliance, don't get me wrong), Moore has been embracing this "Pornography as Art" idea. That's the mad wizard of England's deal, and as long as he is at peace with the serpent god that he worships I'm not one to judge. There is an audience for Lost Girls but it ain't me. I love the League for the interactions between literary and filmic creations, and it is a bit hard to pay attention with graphic scenes on essentially every page.
Century 1969 picks up with the occultist's plot from Century 1910, but oddly gives no indication of how the issue of Captain Nemo's vengeful daughter who burned through the waterfront so spectacularly in the first volume was resolved. The League has been whittled down to three immortals: Alan, Mina, and Orlando. I miss the adventures of a big crew, but this does allow Moore to focus on the complex relationships of these characters who have spent the better part of a century together. It being the sixties, the emphasis is most decidedly on sex, drugs, rock and roll, and more sex and drugs. Moore has always had an ear for dialog, and it is pretty cool to see Michael Caine's cockney Jack Carter walking and talking through the swinging streets of London.
I'm up for the next book, Century 2009 simply because of the promise of seeing how Moore handles none other than TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE as a villain. After that, maybe Moore will put the League to rest and explore his pursuits in other writing.
August 6, 2012
I loved the original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for two reasons -- the re-imagining of classic characters from literature, and the steam-punk Victorian world they were tasked with saving.
With this second installment of the Century trilogy, both of those elements are totally gone from the series. In the first installment, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910, it was already fading, as that was just past the tail end of the Victorian era, and the original league members of Mina Harker and Allan Quatermain were supplemented with new, less interesting characters like Orlando, AJ Raffles and Carnacki. However, in this volume, the pseudo-Vistorian setting is replaced with an over-the-top exaggeration of the late 1960's and the league is down to just Mina, Allan and Orlando -- three characters that are -- at best -- uninspiring.
In some sort of misguided attempt to make up for what is lacking in the characters and the setting, Alan Moore gives us a psychedelic spirit-plane monster with a gigantic eyeball-penis and tentacled testicles.
Seriously, the last thing this waning series needed was a jump-the-shark adversary such as the above penis monster.
Had I not bought The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 2009 at the same time as this volme, I would not continue, but since I already own it, and it is the conclusion to the trilogy, I will read it. Hopefully the penis monster will be left in 1969.
With this second installment of the Century trilogy, both of those elements are totally gone from the series. In the first installment, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910, it was already fading, as that was just past the tail end of the Victorian era, and the original league members of Mina Harker and Allan Quatermain were supplemented with new, less interesting characters like Orlando, AJ Raffles and Carnacki. However, in this volume, the pseudo-Vistorian setting is replaced with an over-the-top exaggeration of the late 1960's and the league is down to just Mina, Allan and Orlando -- three characters that are -- at best -- uninspiring.
In some sort of misguided attempt to make up for what is lacking in the characters and the setting, Alan Moore gives us a psychedelic spirit-plane monster with a gigantic eyeball-penis and tentacled testicles.
Seriously, the last thing this waning series needed was a jump-the-shark adversary such as the above penis monster.
Had I not bought The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 2009 at the same time as this volme, I would not continue, but since I already own it, and it is the conclusion to the trilogy, I will read it. Hopefully the penis monster will be left in 1969.
October 1, 2018
Caotico, drammatico, inconcludente.
Tutti i difetti del primo Century sono moltiplicati in questa seconda avventura.
Personaggi fantastici in una storia sbagliata.
E' sempre più chiaro che Moore avrebbe dovuto fermarsi al secondo volume della TLOEG.
Tutti i difetti del primo Century sono moltiplicati in questa seconda avventura.
Personaggi fantastici in una storia sbagliata.
E' sempre più chiaro che Moore avrebbe dovuto fermarsi al secondo volume della TLOEG.
June 9, 2020
There is indeed, a plot underneath everything else here, and one that writer Alan Moore is advancing toward a (hopeful) satisfactory conclusion in CENTURY 2009. Like the last volume, the second chapter of CENTURY is chock-full of literary references, some easy to discern and others obscure (I’m sure I missed plenty of these).
While I’m enjoying the story, sometimes the references take over the plot and take it on little side trips or scenes in order to allow Moore to complete his veiled name-drops. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
NOTE: Spoilers follow. Don’t read further if you want to read this book and still be surprised.
This time Moore adds references to 1960’s rock music, popular culture (drugs, clothing, lifestyles) and films. The occultist Oliver Haddo is an immortal of sorts, but different from Mina and Allan. He uses a spell of transference to take over other physical bodies when his present form is near death, too old, or no longer useful to him. As the story begins, he’s inside the owner of an occult books store. His cult members murder rock musician Basil Thomas (a reference to a Victorian writer, but the resemblance and circumstances point to deceased Rolling Stone Brian Jones) in his swimming pool yet allow his companion/lover to survive. That person is Terner (Mick Jagger/Memo From Turner) the lead singer of The Purple Orchestra who is in line to give up his form to Haddo’s next transference, a step towards the creation of the Moonchild/Anti-Christ.
Sorcerer Prospero summons the League (this time just Mina, Allan and Orlando) to investigate the murder. Mob leader Vince Dakin (I was thinking the Krays, but there’s no brother) hires trench-coated detective Jack Carter ( looking like Michael Caine in Get Carter) to find the killer of his former friend Basil Thomas. Carter provides a valuable assist with a murder. The League manage to avert Haddo’s transference into Terner during a tribute concert. This features a vivid battle on the astral plane between a drugged Mina and Haddo.
However, the Moonchild threat is not ended as the astral form of Haddo manages to infiltrate the form of Mina’s concert acquaintance, Tom (meant to be a young Voldermort from the Harry Potter series) Mina has a tiff with Allan. The story ends in 1977 during the advent of punk rock where Orlando is female again and Allan is a drug addict, both trying to re-connect with the estranged Mina.
While I’m enjoying the story, sometimes the references take over the plot and take it on little side trips or scenes in order to allow Moore to complete his veiled name-drops. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
NOTE: Spoilers follow. Don’t read further if you want to read this book and still be surprised.
This time Moore adds references to 1960’s rock music, popular culture (drugs, clothing, lifestyles) and films. The occultist Oliver Haddo is an immortal of sorts, but different from Mina and Allan. He uses a spell of transference to take over other physical bodies when his present form is near death, too old, or no longer useful to him. As the story begins, he’s inside the owner of an occult books store. His cult members murder rock musician Basil Thomas (a reference to a Victorian writer, but the resemblance and circumstances point to deceased Rolling Stone Brian Jones) in his swimming pool yet allow his companion/lover to survive. That person is Terner (Mick Jagger/Memo From Turner) the lead singer of The Purple Orchestra who is in line to give up his form to Haddo’s next transference, a step towards the creation of the Moonchild/Anti-Christ.
Sorcerer Prospero summons the League (this time just Mina, Allan and Orlando) to investigate the murder. Mob leader Vince Dakin (I was thinking the Krays, but there’s no brother) hires trench-coated detective Jack Carter ( looking like Michael Caine in Get Carter) to find the killer of his former friend Basil Thomas. Carter provides a valuable assist with a murder. The League manage to avert Haddo’s transference into Terner during a tribute concert. This features a vivid battle on the astral plane between a drugged Mina and Haddo.
However, the Moonchild threat is not ended as the astral form of Haddo manages to infiltrate the form of Mina’s concert acquaintance, Tom (meant to be a young Voldermort from the Harry Potter series) Mina has a tiff with Allan. The story ends in 1977 during the advent of punk rock where Orlando is female again and Allan is a drug addict, both trying to re-connect with the estranged Mina.
April 13, 2019
Tämän pitäisi olla toinen osa Herrasmiesliigan toisesta tarinakokonaisuudesta, mutta ei sille tunnu.
Kirjaan ei pääse mitenkään sisälle, jos ei ole lukenut aiempaa selitysteosta (Musta kansio) ja se ei liity käytännössä mitenkään viralliseen ensimmäiseen osaan (1910). Vaikka nämä lukisikin, on kirja yksi sekamelska ilman hahmoja tai juonta.
Tarinan juonesta tulee sellainen olo, että kirjailija on ollut niin täynnä itseään, ettei enää vaivaudu kertomaan tarinaa lukijoille, vaan tekee vain irtonaisista kohtauksista toimivia. Tämä ei ole missään vaiheessa mielenkiintoinen tai muutenkaan tempaa mukaansa. Maailma on jonkinlainen rinnakkaisversio omasta vuoden 1969 versiosta, mutta eroja ei koskaan vaivauduta selittämään tai edes näyttämään. Siinä missä aiemmat Herrasmiesliigat olivat steampunk-versioita, nyt on mukana nuoruuden lähde, kuolemattomia, 4. maailma, antikristus ja demoneita. Hahmojen väliset suhteet ovat tympeitä ja myös hahmojen muuttuminen tarinoiden aikana on masentavaa seurattavaa.
Myöskään piirrosjälki ei tee enää mitään vaikutusta. Hahmot ovat ilmeettömiä ja jopa päähenkilöitä on käytännössä mahdotonta erottaa sivuhahmoista tai taustahahmoista. Joskus hahmojen ulkonäkö muuttuu dramaattisesti jopa saman sivun aikana. Kirja tuntuu myös yrittävän myydä itseään epätoivoisesti tissejä, perseitä, kaluja ja pikkuhousuja vilauttelemalla. En tavallisesti kiinnitä tällaiseen edes huomiota, mutta tämän kanssa piti oikein laskea, monellako sivulla näitä esiintyy: 14 sivulla EI ollut mitään. Jos laskee mukaan napaan asti yltävät kaula-aukot, luku tippuu nollaan. Käytännössä mikään alastonkohtauksista ei myöskään edes liity tarinaan tai ihmissuhteisiin: juonta selittäessä vain kuvataan Minaa sammakkoperspektiivistä, paidoista paistaa nännit läpi, kaikkialla vain hyppii naisia ilman paitaa ja kaikki hahmot juttelevat juonesta samalla, kun poljeskelevat toisiaan.
Jos kyse olisi ihan uudesta sarjasta tai jonkun tuntemattoman tekijän teoksesta, voisin antaa 2 tai jopa 3 tähteä ihan kannustuksen vuoksi. Tämä on kuitenkin jatkoa todella hyvälle seikkailutarinalle kahdelta todella kokeneelta sarjakuvantekijältä eikä tähän ole saatu edes juonta tehtyä.
Kirjaan ei pääse mitenkään sisälle, jos ei ole lukenut aiempaa selitysteosta (Musta kansio) ja se ei liity käytännössä mitenkään viralliseen ensimmäiseen osaan (1910). Vaikka nämä lukisikin, on kirja yksi sekamelska ilman hahmoja tai juonta.
Tarinan juonesta tulee sellainen olo, että kirjailija on ollut niin täynnä itseään, ettei enää vaivaudu kertomaan tarinaa lukijoille, vaan tekee vain irtonaisista kohtauksista toimivia. Tämä ei ole missään vaiheessa mielenkiintoinen tai muutenkaan tempaa mukaansa. Maailma on jonkinlainen rinnakkaisversio omasta vuoden 1969 versiosta, mutta eroja ei koskaan vaivauduta selittämään tai edes näyttämään. Siinä missä aiemmat Herrasmiesliigat olivat steampunk-versioita, nyt on mukana nuoruuden lähde, kuolemattomia, 4. maailma, antikristus ja demoneita. Hahmojen väliset suhteet ovat tympeitä ja myös hahmojen muuttuminen tarinoiden aikana on masentavaa seurattavaa.
Myöskään piirrosjälki ei tee enää mitään vaikutusta. Hahmot ovat ilmeettömiä ja jopa päähenkilöitä on käytännössä mahdotonta erottaa sivuhahmoista tai taustahahmoista. Joskus hahmojen ulkonäkö muuttuu dramaattisesti jopa saman sivun aikana. Kirja tuntuu myös yrittävän myydä itseään epätoivoisesti tissejä, perseitä, kaluja ja pikkuhousuja vilauttelemalla. En tavallisesti kiinnitä tällaiseen edes huomiota, mutta tämän kanssa piti oikein laskea, monellako sivulla näitä esiintyy: 14 sivulla EI ollut mitään. Jos laskee mukaan napaan asti yltävät kaula-aukot, luku tippuu nollaan. Käytännössä mikään alastonkohtauksista ei myöskään edes liity tarinaan tai ihmissuhteisiin: juonta selittäessä vain kuvataan Minaa sammakkoperspektiivistä, paidoista paistaa nännit läpi, kaikkialla vain hyppii naisia ilman paitaa ja kaikki hahmot juttelevat juonesta samalla, kun poljeskelevat toisiaan.
Jos kyse olisi ihan uudesta sarjasta tai jonkun tuntemattoman tekijän teoksesta, voisin antaa 2 tai jopa 3 tähteä ihan kannustuksen vuoksi. Tämä on kuitenkin jatkoa todella hyvälle seikkailutarinalle kahdelta todella kokeneelta sarjakuvantekijältä eikä tähän ole saatu edes juonta tehtyä.
August 9, 2011
I'm a huge fan of Alan Moore, and I think that V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and Promethea are some of the greatest works of literature of the modern age. As someone who enjoyed the earlier books in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen very much, and who loves this style of literary acknowledgemens to populist culture, I looked forward to the latest installment of the League's adventures with great anticipation. Sadly, I feel somewhat let down.
Yes, all the pop culture references are there: Crowleyen magick is a primary theme (the bad guys include "Oliver Haddo", and a parody of Kenneth Grant), Atlantis Bookshop in London plays a role, and Michael Moorcock plays a gig beside the League's new HQ. The London buses are crewed by the "On the Buses" team, and if you look carefully you'll see The Second Doctor, Steptoe & Son etc. slinking about in the corners of panels. The highlight of this is a page where they meet the "Cure for Cancer" period Jerry Cornelius, in full negative mode complete with panda-skin coat. The teenage "New Worlds" fan in me danced a little dance of joy at that.
But apart from that, the story is... weak. Almost non-existent in fact. The League as it is now is down to three characters who are little more than coat racks for the 60s references, and have no depth at all. Or fun. There's a bit of sex & drugs & rock & role, since it is the 60s after all, but that's pretty much it. By halfway through I found myself not really caring what they were doing. And Jack Carter wanders through things, which is nice, but again, not fleshed out at all.
Yeah, it was ok, but it was lazy. And lazy is not what I expect from Alan Moore.
Yes, all the pop culture references are there: Crowleyen magick is a primary theme (the bad guys include "Oliver Haddo", and a parody of Kenneth Grant), Atlantis Bookshop in London plays a role, and Michael Moorcock plays a gig beside the League's new HQ. The London buses are crewed by the "On the Buses" team, and if you look carefully you'll see The Second Doctor, Steptoe & Son etc. slinking about in the corners of panels. The highlight of this is a page where they meet the "Cure for Cancer" period Jerry Cornelius, in full negative mode complete with panda-skin coat. The teenage "New Worlds" fan in me danced a little dance of joy at that.
But apart from that, the story is... weak. Almost non-existent in fact. The League as it is now is down to three characters who are little more than coat racks for the 60s references, and have no depth at all. Or fun. There's a bit of sex & drugs & rock & role, since it is the 60s after all, but that's pretty much it. By halfway through I found myself not really caring what they were doing. And Jack Carter wanders through things, which is nice, but again, not fleshed out at all.
Yeah, it was ok, but it was lazy. And lazy is not what I expect from Alan Moore.
November 13, 2011
Initially, I was inclined to be dismissive of this post-modern redrafting of the 1960s to fit the conceits of Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, now reduced to three - the sex-shifting Orlando, a dull and uninteresting Allan Quatermain and the real heroine of the story, Mina.
Fortunately, the clever-cleverness of the references to everything from the Krays and 'Get Carter' via the Rolling Stones and Jerry Cornelius to every possible literary reincarnation (you'll get that when you read it) of Crowley is redeemed with what turns out to be quite a good story.
Nevertheless, this is Moore coasting with a product that is entertaining enough but which he and O'Neill are offering us without much apparent conviction.
Perhaps all that might be said about it to tempt the jaded palate is that Moore continues his campaign of sexual awakening for the great unwashed that started with Promethea and reached its notorious zenith in 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Sexuality is presented as varied, and normal in its variety, in a way that you will rarely see on the comic book shelves of WH Smith. If it livens up and liberates a few adolescents, then he will have done some anarchic service to humanity - certainly one or two scenes are a definite turn-on.
But it is a pretty pot-boiler and not up to the usual standard we have come to expect from the great Anarch.
Fortunately, the clever-cleverness of the references to everything from the Krays and 'Get Carter' via the Rolling Stones and Jerry Cornelius to every possible literary reincarnation (you'll get that when you read it) of Crowley is redeemed with what turns out to be quite a good story.
Nevertheless, this is Moore coasting with a product that is entertaining enough but which he and O'Neill are offering us without much apparent conviction.
Perhaps all that might be said about it to tempt the jaded palate is that Moore continues his campaign of sexual awakening for the great unwashed that started with Promethea and reached its notorious zenith in 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Sexuality is presented as varied, and normal in its variety, in a way that you will rarely see on the comic book shelves of WH Smith. If it livens up and liberates a few adolescents, then he will have done some anarchic service to humanity - certainly one or two scenes are a definite turn-on.
But it is a pretty pot-boiler and not up to the usual standard we have come to expect from the great Anarch.
August 21, 2011
... filled to capacity with allusions I got and, I'm sure, ones I didn't ...
1969
seems to have aims similar to those of
Mad Men
-- demystifying the 1960s and remystifying them w/ a new kind of magick. Unfortunately, Mina Murray's story is only about a tenth as emotional as Don Draper's ...... The ostensible optimism of hippie psych rock is shown to be a stupid colourful mask for the nihilism punk would shove in our face eight years later, but Moore doesn't connect these dots in a way that will make anyone feel much tragedy. There's a devil who keeps switching bodies to stay alive: not scary. Our heroes chase the devil: not dangerous. These drawings refuse to come alive -- it's like your high friend telling you something bad that happened to his friend you never met, and he's laughing, but ...... I guess you had to be there.
January 4, 2012
I had a hard time following this one and that may be a rather serious understatement. This thing was loopy as hell and off the wall. I enjoyed it...or at least I think I did. It follows the three remaining League members, as they continue their search for the famed occultist, Oliver Haddo. Who was doing what and why, I sort of understood, but it was such a devilishly thin middle part, making the jump from the first part to the third part, that it wasn't really it's own honest adventure. It was just a brief, episodic outing for the characters. It didn't offer anything thrilling or new, like all the other volumes did. It's still damn good fun, but it's requiring more and more of me and my ASTOOOOOOOOOOOOUNDIIIIIIIIING IIIIIIIIINTELLEEEEEECT!
December 30, 2013
This isn't the first time that Moore's tapped into the idea that hippies were the real superheroes of the 1960s, guarding the astral plane with their far-out sexmagic and stimulant choices, and I always enjoy when he goes to that well. This part of Century is sexy, it's fun, and it ends on an ominous cliffhanger that makes me excited to see where the story ends up.
March 1, 2017
There are periods during the whole LoEG saga where I can't imagine anyone else bringing all of these characters and ideas together more brilliantly, and then there are times when I wish I were reading Unwritten instead. This volume made me long for Mike Carey: he's just more consistently engaging.
May 21, 2021
I've missed the LOEG. This was as much fun as ever. I hugely enjoy spotting lots of little tiny references, and I am certain I am missing more than 50% of them.
Hugely enjoyable, wildly unpredictable, and rather endearing in places. I keenly anticipate the next installment, 2009...
Hugely enjoyable, wildly unpredictable, and rather endearing in places. I keenly anticipate the next installment, 2009...
October 1, 2011
I enjoyed it, but I'll be damned if I can explain what happened.
April 16, 2012
Continuación más dinámica de la saga final, con un Moore menos críptico que gana en agilidad narrativa. Una entrega más sólida de una franquicia que a esta altura sólo persiguen sus más fanáticos.
January 30, 2014
From steampunk to the Swinging Sixties. Well, well. For a detailed review, please visit my blog: http://tesatorul.blogspot.ro/2014/01/....
May 24, 2018
Tomo 2 de 3 LoEG Century.
May 5, 2024
A century long epic that is just as messy as its source material…
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill is the third true volume of the long running series. The black dossier was more of an anthology.
Featuring dozens of characters and hundreds of cultural references, the story follows a century long effort to summon the antichrist…or essentially a British occult antichrist…
This series is much harder to get into if you have only read the first two. It’s dependent on you knowing the deeper lore that can be discovered in the backmatter of the first two volumes and the black dossier, as characters that were previously only footnotes in prose travel guides become vital leads without warning.
I loved it, and I imagine Alan Moore fans would enjoy the deep crazy references, but or a casual reader or someone who only read the main comics, it’s probably pretty confusing.
The narrative hops across 3 main time periods from the shaky origins of the Moonchipd conspiracy to the final evolution of the grim project of madmen and their followers.
You even get a cameo of God…or at least the British literary God as envisioned by Alan Moore (and the character makes sense at least to me).
Even though it’s messy, it’s still fun to take a dip into this world regardless as each volume also contains fake ads, back matter, and pop art related to the period.
And if a reference turns you on to reading some new story or whatever, then that’s even better…
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill is the third true volume of the long running series. The black dossier was more of an anthology.
Featuring dozens of characters and hundreds of cultural references, the story follows a century long effort to summon the antichrist…or essentially a British occult antichrist…
This series is much harder to get into if you have only read the first two. It’s dependent on you knowing the deeper lore that can be discovered in the backmatter of the first two volumes and the black dossier, as characters that were previously only footnotes in prose travel guides become vital leads without warning.
I loved it, and I imagine Alan Moore fans would enjoy the deep crazy references, but or a casual reader or someone who only read the main comics, it’s probably pretty confusing.
The narrative hops across 3 main time periods from the shaky origins of the Moonchipd conspiracy to the final evolution of the grim project of madmen and their followers.
You even get a cameo of God…or at least the British literary God as envisioned by Alan Moore (and the character makes sense at least to me).
Even though it’s messy, it’s still fun to take a dip into this world regardless as each volume also contains fake ads, back matter, and pop art related to the period.
And if a reference turns you on to reading some new story or whatever, then that’s even better…
Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews