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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1-2 + Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Omnibus: The Jubilee Edition
The incredible omnibus edition of the much-lauded THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN collects the first two volumes of the Eisner and Harvey award-winning series, presented together with the follow-up book THE BLACK DOSSIER for the first time.
608 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2019
7 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Alan Moore
1,578 books21.6k 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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 8, 2019
In this dark historical sci-fi fantasy mashup, there’s monsters, aliens, rape, murder, espionage, and war galore. While interesting in its recycling of literary characters, it’s limited by its own scope of classic tropes—alien invasion, world war, conspiracy. Moore also unfortunately abuses and treats his female characters like one-dimensional objects, most notably Wilhelmina Murray, a should-be vampire badass, instead a boring, victimized doormat. And The Black Dossier is an incoherent, long-winded jumble. Overall, a mixed bag but nonetheless interesting.
October 24, 2019
League Vol. 1. Moore isn't the first person to mash-up many classic heroes. The crossover Wold Newton family proposed by Philip José Farmer is probably the best known, though Warren Ellis' Planetary also plays with the idea. What Moore does here is perhaps more expansive than any previous attempt, as nearly everyone in this comic is a literary figure. Not just the big names like Nemo, Jekyll, Mina Harker, and the rest, but also most of the characters they meet along the way. (Does it matter if the average reader doesn't recognize them? Maybe.)
However, Moore also does something else with League: he viciously deconstructs these heroes of yesterday. Allan Quartermain is a tweaker; Mina Harker is as cold, ruthless, and inhumane as her undead tormenter; the Invisible Man is a sociopath and rapist; Jekyll and Hyde are a paired victim and monster; and Nemo is also there (barely). It's an interesting take on these "heroes" who still manage to live up to the name.
As for the plot: it's quite slow early on, as Moore brings the crew together, but it really takes off in the last few issues when mysteries are revealed and London itself is under siege [4/5].
League Vol. 2. Moore casts his nets wider in this second volume by incorporating the tales of H.G. Wells, primarily The War of the Worlds, but with an amusing diversion to The Island of Doctor Moreau. The result is a very different sort of adventure tale from the first, but one that's both more evocative and engaging. (And that's not even counting the wonderful first issue, which mashes together a few Martian planetary romances.)
Meanwhile, Moore dramatically develops the pulp heroes that we met in the first volume, turning them into true characters with character arcs all their own. It's wonderful to see how they all change (after the foundation of their characters in V1).
Is this volume a bit too violent and explicit? Perhaps. It's certainly part of the deconstruction that Moore began in V1, but it may go too far for the faint of heart [4+/5].
Black Dossier. Moore's second-and-a-halfth League story does a rather magnificent job of detailing an entire history for the League, from the 17th century to the 1950s, laying the foundation for any number of intriguing stories about a multitude of Leagues. And, in the process it also presents a whole world that is more obviously not quite like our own (especially with the "Big Brother" takeover of England).
Meanwhile, we get a fun modern-day story that tells us of the future of some of our original League characters, decades later. Though the history is the most intriguing part of this book, the modern-day action is the most interesting.
This is all told through a variety of media, from reports and excerpts of novels to postcards and comic strips. Unfortunately, this is the book's greatest weakness. Moore has multiple times presented textual sources to go with his stories (see also, Providence), and they tend to be the weakest parts of his work, often either dull infodumps or attempted parodies of bad art forms ... that turn out to be as bad as the original. In Black Dossier, some of the infodumps are pretty hard to read, even if they summarize entirely intriguing adventures, and then there's one "novel excerpt" (_The Crazy Wide Forever_) that is literally unreadable.
I also was unconvinced by the ending, because sometimes there's a fourth wall that doesn't need to be broken.
Despite my complaints, I loved the expansion of the League universe in this side-volume to the series. [4/5]
However, Moore also does something else with League: he viciously deconstructs these heroes of yesterday. Allan Quartermain is a tweaker; Mina Harker is as cold, ruthless, and inhumane as her undead tormenter; the Invisible Man is a sociopath and rapist; Jekyll and Hyde are a paired victim and monster; and Nemo is also there (barely). It's an interesting take on these "heroes" who still manage to live up to the name.
As for the plot: it's quite slow early on, as Moore brings the crew together, but it really takes off in the last few issues when mysteries are revealed and London itself is under siege [4/5].
League Vol. 2. Moore casts his nets wider in this second volume by incorporating the tales of H.G. Wells, primarily The War of the Worlds, but with an amusing diversion to The Island of Doctor Moreau. The result is a very different sort of adventure tale from the first, but one that's both more evocative and engaging. (And that's not even counting the wonderful first issue, which mashes together a few Martian planetary romances.)
Meanwhile, Moore dramatically develops the pulp heroes that we met in the first volume, turning them into true characters with character arcs all their own. It's wonderful to see how they all change (after the foundation of their characters in V1).
Is this volume a bit too violent and explicit? Perhaps. It's certainly part of the deconstruction that Moore began in V1, but it may go too far for the faint of heart [4+/5].
Black Dossier. Moore's second-and-a-halfth League story does a rather magnificent job of detailing an entire history for the League, from the 17th century to the 1950s, laying the foundation for any number of intriguing stories about a multitude of Leagues. And, in the process it also presents a whole world that is more obviously not quite like our own (especially with the "Big Brother" takeover of England).
Meanwhile, we get a fun modern-day story that tells us of the future of some of our original League characters, decades later. Though the history is the most intriguing part of this book, the modern-day action is the most interesting.
This is all told through a variety of media, from reports and excerpts of novels to postcards and comic strips. Unfortunately, this is the book's greatest weakness. Moore has multiple times presented textual sources to go with his stories (see also, Providence), and they tend to be the weakest parts of his work, often either dull infodumps or attempted parodies of bad art forms ... that turn out to be as bad as the original. In Black Dossier, some of the infodumps are pretty hard to read, even if they summarize entirely intriguing adventures, and then there's one "novel excerpt" (_The Crazy Wide Forever_) that is literally unreadable.
I also was unconvinced by the ending, because sometimes there's a fourth wall that doesn't need to be broken.
Despite my complaints, I loved the expansion of the League universe in this side-volume to the series. [4/5]
December 18, 2023
Excellent collection of the first three Gentlemen stories. The first two will appeal to most comic readers while the third may be a bit more challenging to get through (at least it was for me.) Still, these are some amazing comics and well worth seeking out for anyone interested in seeing Alan Moore create a superhero-esque universe with Victorian Age characters and stories.
February 19, 2024
4.5/5
No sé por dónde empezar. Creo que fue una novela gráfica compleja de leer y que las partes en prosa de Alan Moore tenían una dificultad que incluso a mí se me hacía cuesta arriba por momentos. Sin embargo, me pareció brillante en su construcción.
En Gran Bretaña están armando un equipo de personas con cualidades especiales para combatir las distintas amenazas al imperio. Por eso, su líder, Mina Murray deberá buscar y convencer a un grupo de personajes para que se unan a este equipo de agentes secretos.
Como me pasó con todo lo de Alan Moore, me vi la película primero varios años atrás y la verdad es que encontré maravillosa la idea de una Liga de la justicia con personajes literarios. Básicamente, los primeros dos volúmenes me dieron eso que esperaba, ver a estos personajes interactuar y trabajar como equipo para vencer a sus enemigos. La verdad es que me hubiese podido leer varios volúmenes siguiendo esta misma lógica, se me hicieron sumamente divertidos.
En el primer volumen, Mina tuvo que buscarlos y formar el equipo. Así es como terminaron enfrentándose a su primera gran amenaza y descubrieron unas traiciones importantes. Me gustó al dinámica que se fueron dando entre todos, la poca confianza que se tenían y el cómo poco a poco fueron encajando como equipo. Como la clásica primera entrega de cualquier equipo con personalidades dispares que tiene que trabajar en conjunto.
En el segundo volumen, que fue mi favorito por lejos, se enfrentaron a una amenaza marciana tomando como base La guerra de los mundos. Disfruté mucho más esta aventura que la primera, quizá porque la sentí más clara o fácil de seguir que la primera. Sin embargo, para el final de este la liga se separó debido a distintos eventos.
Para cuando me enfrenté al Black Dossier no me encontré lo que esperaba. Este volumen es un metalibro que está dentro de la historia, pero que al mismo tiempo como lectores podemos ir leyéndolo. Es un recopilatorio de lo que se sabe de la liga desde sus orígenes y de los distintos miembros que ha tenido a lo largo de la historia. Fue trabajo de Mina y Allan recuperar este archivo de unos agentes ingleses y ponerlo a salvo.
Creo que es la primera vez que leo a Alan Moore en inglés y en las viñetas estaba bien, era manejable. Sin embargo, su prosa se me hizo muy cuesta arriba. Al final del primer volumen, nos encontramos con un relato sobre Allan que explicaba un poco al personaje. La verdad es que tuve que buscarlo en español, pues leí tres párrafos y no podía estar segura de lo que leí. Al final del segundo volumen, nos dieron un almanaque de los lugares mágicos por todo el mundo, un compendio hecho por distintos personajes de la liga. Al mismo tiempo, supimos qué pasó con Mina y Allan después de la separación de la liga.
Sin embargo, el Black Dossier tenía no solo viñetas de novela gráfica, sino que diferentes tipos de textos intercalados en todos los formatos. Uno que decía ser una obra perdida de Shakespeare, relatos de otros personajes que veían a Allan y Mina sin saber bien quiénes eran, relatos de los diarios de Fany Hill, una serie de dibujos y resumen de la vida de Orlando, e incluso un resumen de la aventura de la liga contra su versión francesa malvada.
Sentí que para los dos primeros volúmenes era sencillo seguir a sus personajes, pues se mantuvieron como personajes de novelas clásicas populares. Sin embargo, para el Black Dossier o ya el almanaque, las referencias se volvieron infinitas, tenía que pausar constantemente para poder googlear nombres y lugares, y siento que ni aun así pude dar con todo. Además, como dije, la pluma en prosa de Moore se me hacía pesada la mayor parte del tiempo, incluso leyéndola en español. En particular, hubo una parte sin puntuación que se me hizo casi imposible. A pesar de lo que dije, no es que tuviera una prosa super compleja y difícil de seguir, creo que fue una mezcla de que mentalmente yo estaba en mood novela gráfica y que el formato no era sencillo, no era un libro, sino que unas hojas enormes en las que hasta me perdía por dónde iba leyendo.
El final del Black Dossier fue una locura en su máxima expresión, de verdad, no me esperaba eso para nada. Aun así, me gustó mucho lo que significaba y cómo jugaba con el tema de los personajes literarios y la realidad. Además, buscando en google me salió un análisis super interesante del por qué Moore usó el Mundo llameante (escrito por una mujer en el sXVII) para esa escena. La cito tal cual "Porque esta "liga de hombres extraordinarios" siempre ha sido sobre una mujer. Siempre ha sido sobre Mina y su relación con la sociedad masculina, sobre cómo han tratado de dominarla de forma sexual, de forma política, de forma social. Y siempre ha estado a la altura y ha salido adelante, independizándose al máximo en el proceso". Me gustó mucho ese análisis, porque fue algo que me pregunté un par de veces, por qué elegir a Mina cuando no tenía poderes como los demás.
Sobre los personajes, me gustó Mina. Ya la versión original me gustó mucho, esta también lo hizo, era una mujer que sobrevivió a una criatura terrible y a un divorcio, pero que se mantenía entera sin dejar de ser vulnerable. Allan era el clásico caballero a la antigua, aunque honorable, quizá más ingenuo y simplón, bastante diferente, por lo que entendí, de su versión original que era un ícono de la Gran Bretaña imperialista.
Hyde fue una sorpresa, era un monstruo y bruto, pero me gustó la forma en que se relacionó con Mina. En especial, para el segundo volumen cuando la defendió de una forma hasta grotesca. Era un personaje cruel y perturbador, no le importaba mucho la moralidad o los conceptos del bien y del mal, pero era fiel a un honor propio y podía relacionarse y obedecer a los demás cuando correspondía.
A Griffin lo odié desde el inicio, pues se nos presentó de raíz como alguien que abusaba de niñas en un internado y las embarazaba. Me pareció grotesco y desagradable, de hecho, odié que nadie hiciera mención a este hecho. Sin embargo, considerando lo que pasó para el final del segundo volumen supongo que tuvo su merecido. Aunque admito que fue una escena que perturbó bastante, sigo sin saber cómo sentirme al respecto.
Nemo se mantuvo fiel a lo que recordaba de la adaptación, ese hombre estoico y serio, bastante honorable en su forma de ser que, además, mantenía su oposición política a Inglaterra. Creo que con Nemo pasaba lo mismo que con Allan, que se sentían más como compañeros, que personajes que brillaran por su cuenta.
Otro personaje que se hizo relevante desde el almanaque fue Orlando. Amé su personaje, desde el tema de su maldición a su contradicción en la forma de ser, pues era un personaje dispuesto a participar en cualquier guerra y en cualquier bando. Podía cambiarse de bando solo por aburrimiento debido a su inmortalidad. Al mismo tiempo, su otro pasatiempo era el sexo, buscar amantes por el mundo.
En un análisis del Black Dossier que encontré, decía que Moore lo comparó con el Silmarillion, como esa novela que llenaba vacíos, que conectaba todo por detrás de una forma algo caótica. Como una enciclopedia universial que entregaba algo de coherencia y sustancia al mundo que presentó Moore.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Omnibus: The Jubilee Edition es un compendio de los dos primeros volúmenes y el Black Dossier de la saga. Aquí conocemos a una liga de la justicia de personajes literarios famosos que se unen para salvar a Gran Bretaña de sus amenazas. En sus primeros dos volúmenes el equipo se enfrentó a distintos enemigos, mientras que en el Back Dossier nos enfrentamos a una especie de enciclopedia de la liga.
No sé por dónde empezar. Creo que fue una novela gráfica compleja de leer y que las partes en prosa de Alan Moore tenían una dificultad que incluso a mí se me hacía cuesta arriba por momentos. Sin embargo, me pareció brillante en su construcción.
En Gran Bretaña están armando un equipo de personas con cualidades especiales para combatir las distintas amenazas al imperio. Por eso, su líder, Mina Murray deberá buscar y convencer a un grupo de personajes para que se unan a este equipo de agentes secretos.
Como me pasó con todo lo de Alan Moore, me vi la película primero varios años atrás y la verdad es que encontré maravillosa la idea de una Liga de la justicia con personajes literarios. Básicamente, los primeros dos volúmenes me dieron eso que esperaba, ver a estos personajes interactuar y trabajar como equipo para vencer a sus enemigos. La verdad es que me hubiese podido leer varios volúmenes siguiendo esta misma lógica, se me hicieron sumamente divertidos.
En el primer volumen, Mina tuvo que buscarlos y formar el equipo. Así es como terminaron enfrentándose a su primera gran amenaza y descubrieron unas traiciones importantes. Me gustó al dinámica que se fueron dando entre todos, la poca confianza que se tenían y el cómo poco a poco fueron encajando como equipo. Como la clásica primera entrega de cualquier equipo con personalidades dispares que tiene que trabajar en conjunto.
En el segundo volumen, que fue mi favorito por lejos, se enfrentaron a una amenaza marciana tomando como base La guerra de los mundos. Disfruté mucho más esta aventura que la primera, quizá porque la sentí más clara o fácil de seguir que la primera. Sin embargo, para el final de este la liga se separó debido a distintos eventos.
Para cuando me enfrenté al Black Dossier no me encontré lo que esperaba. Este volumen es un metalibro que está dentro de la historia, pero que al mismo tiempo como lectores podemos ir leyéndolo. Es un recopilatorio de lo que se sabe de la liga desde sus orígenes y de los distintos miembros que ha tenido a lo largo de la historia. Fue trabajo de Mina y Allan recuperar este archivo de unos agentes ingleses y ponerlo a salvo.
"I was Bio, I was Vita, and where human life went, there went I. It was a very great adventure, and I am proud to have been a man; to have been a woman. To have been Orlando".
Creo que es la primera vez que leo a Alan Moore en inglés y en las viñetas estaba bien, era manejable. Sin embargo, su prosa se me hizo muy cuesta arriba. Al final del primer volumen, nos encontramos con un relato sobre Allan que explicaba un poco al personaje. La verdad es que tuve que buscarlo en español, pues leí tres párrafos y no podía estar segura de lo que leí. Al final del segundo volumen, nos dieron un almanaque de los lugares mágicos por todo el mundo, un compendio hecho por distintos personajes de la liga. Al mismo tiempo, supimos qué pasó con Mina y Allan después de la separación de la liga.
Sin embargo, el Black Dossier tenía no solo viñetas de novela gráfica, sino que diferentes tipos de textos intercalados en todos los formatos. Uno que decía ser una obra perdida de Shakespeare, relatos de otros personajes que veían a Allan y Mina sin saber bien quiénes eran, relatos de los diarios de Fany Hill, una serie de dibujos y resumen de la vida de Orlando, e incluso un resumen de la aventura de la liga contra su versión francesa malvada.
Sentí que para los dos primeros volúmenes era sencillo seguir a sus personajes, pues se mantuvieron como personajes de novelas clásicas populares. Sin embargo, para el Black Dossier o ya el almanaque, las referencias se volvieron infinitas, tenía que pausar constantemente para poder googlear nombres y lugares, y siento que ni aun así pude dar con todo. Además, como dije, la pluma en prosa de Moore se me hacía pesada la mayor parte del tiempo, incluso leyéndola en español. En particular, hubo una parte sin puntuación que se me hizo casi imposible. A pesar de lo que dije, no es que tuviera una prosa super compleja y difícil de seguir, creo que fue una mezcla de que mentalmente yo estaba en mood novela gráfica y que el formato no era sencillo, no era un libro, sino que unas hojas enormes en las que hasta me perdía por dónde iba leyendo.
El final del Black Dossier fue una locura en su máxima expresión, de verdad, no me esperaba eso para nada. Aun así, me gustó mucho lo que significaba y cómo jugaba con el tema de los personajes literarios y la realidad. Además, buscando en google me salió un análisis super interesante del por qué Moore usó el Mundo llameante (escrito por una mujer en el sXVII) para esa escena. La cito tal cual "Porque esta "liga de hombres extraordinarios" siempre ha sido sobre una mujer. Siempre ha sido sobre Mina y su relación con la sociedad masculina, sobre cómo han tratado de dominarla de forma sexual, de forma política, de forma social. Y siempre ha estado a la altura y ha salido adelante, independizándose al máximo en el proceso". Me gustó mucho ese análisis, porque fue algo que me pregunté un par de veces, por qué elegir a Mina cuando no tenía poderes como los demás.
Sobre los personajes, me gustó Mina. Ya la versión original me gustó mucho, esta también lo hizo, era una mujer que sobrevivió a una criatura terrible y a un divorcio, pero que se mantenía entera sin dejar de ser vulnerable. Allan era el clásico caballero a la antigua, aunque honorable, quizá más ingenuo y simplón, bastante diferente, por lo que entendí, de su versión original que era un ícono de la Gran Bretaña imperialista.
Hyde fue una sorpresa, era un monstruo y bruto, pero me gustó la forma en que se relacionó con Mina. En especial, para el segundo volumen cuando la defendió de una forma hasta grotesca. Era un personaje cruel y perturbador, no le importaba mucho la moralidad o los conceptos del bien y del mal, pero era fiel a un honor propio y podía relacionarse y obedecer a los demás cuando correspondía.
A Griffin lo odié desde el inicio, pues se nos presentó de raíz como alguien que abusaba de niñas en un internado y las embarazaba. Me pareció grotesco y desagradable, de hecho, odié que nadie hiciera mención a este hecho. Sin embargo, considerando lo que pasó para el final del segundo volumen supongo que tuvo su merecido. Aunque admito que fue una escena que perturbó bastante, sigo sin saber cómo sentirme al respecto.
"We are the tales that soothed your infant brow, the roles you wore for childhood's alley-play. Did not your youth, when lust each notion seized, see paper paramour took off to bed? When grown to grey responsibility, it's disenchantment and diurnal toils, come each day's disappointed end were we not all thy consolation, thy escape?
And more, the very personality that scrys this epilogue was once unformed, assembled hastily from borrowed scraps, from traits admired in others, from ideals.
Did fictional examples not prevail? Homes' intellect? the might of Hercules? Our virtues, our intoxicating vice: while fashioning thyself, were these not clay? If we mere insubstantial fancies be, how more so thee, who from us substance stole?
Nemo se mantuvo fiel a lo que recordaba de la adaptación, ese hombre estoico y serio, bastante honorable en su forma de ser que, además, mantenía su oposición política a Inglaterra. Creo que con Nemo pasaba lo mismo que con Allan, que se sentían más como compañeros, que personajes que brillaran por su cuenta.
Otro personaje que se hizo relevante desde el almanaque fue Orlando. Amé su personaje, desde el tema de su maldición a su contradicción en la forma de ser, pues era un personaje dispuesto a participar en cualquier guerra y en cualquier bando. Podía cambiarse de bando solo por aburrimiento debido a su inmortalidad. Al mismo tiempo, su otro pasatiempo era el sexo, buscar amantes por el mundo.
En un análisis del Black Dossier que encontré, decía que Moore lo comparó con el Silmarillion, como esa novela que llenaba vacíos, que conectaba todo por detrás de una forma algo caótica. Como una enciclopedia universial que entregaba algo de coherencia y sustancia al mundo que presentó Moore.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Omnibus: The Jubilee Edition es un compendio de los dos primeros volúmenes y el Black Dossier de la saga. Aquí conocemos a una liga de la justicia de personajes literarios famosos que se unen para salvar a Gran Bretaña de sus amenazas. En sus primeros dos volúmenes el equipo se enfrentó a distintos enemigos, mientras que en el Back Dossier nos enfrentamos a una especie de enciclopedia de la liga.
January 26, 2023
(Zero spoiler review)
Excuse me whilst I continue to ponder on this for a while... Alan Moore, showing how he is the greatest ever writer in comics. An enigmatic genius, and a bit of a frustration all at once. If you had told me there were only about 10 actual comic book issues within this 600 pages, I wouldn't have believed you. This is a genre spanning, medium jumping work of sheer mastery... that also manages to frustrate one a number of occasions throughout. Quite how Hollywood thought they could adequately adapt this in a two hour movie is beyond me. But then again, I am underestimating the arrogance and hubris of Hollywood.
If this was nothing but a straight comic book from beginning to end, would it have been better? Maybe? Probably, it's hard to say. Any excuse to get more of Mr. Kevin O Neill's extraordinary art, even if he does grace us with some rather lovely pictures during the prose meanderings. If Watchmen's continual jumping between prose and comic book bothered you, then you'll do well to give this one a wide berth. Or at least read the comic book only collections, of which I'm sure exist, even if you run the risk of confusion. That said, you can read this all and still find confusion a very natural state to be in. This series is at its best when it's at its most grounded. It does go off the rails a bit here and there, unnecessarily for mine, which robs this of a further point, and spoiled what could and should have been a more satisfactory ending.
That said, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen should still be read by everyone. No, it isn't remembered as fondly as Watchmen, or V, or a great other number of his heralded works, but the man boundless creativity and skill is well and truly on display here. It's just not as immediate or obvious. Be warned though, it's not a quick read. 4/5
OmniBen.
Excuse me whilst I continue to ponder on this for a while... Alan Moore, showing how he is the greatest ever writer in comics. An enigmatic genius, and a bit of a frustration all at once. If you had told me there were only about 10 actual comic book issues within this 600 pages, I wouldn't have believed you. This is a genre spanning, medium jumping work of sheer mastery... that also manages to frustrate one a number of occasions throughout. Quite how Hollywood thought they could adequately adapt this in a two hour movie is beyond me. But then again, I am underestimating the arrogance and hubris of Hollywood.
If this was nothing but a straight comic book from beginning to end, would it have been better? Maybe? Probably, it's hard to say. Any excuse to get more of Mr. Kevin O Neill's extraordinary art, even if he does grace us with some rather lovely pictures during the prose meanderings. If Watchmen's continual jumping between prose and comic book bothered you, then you'll do well to give this one a wide berth. Or at least read the comic book only collections, of which I'm sure exist, even if you run the risk of confusion. That said, you can read this all and still find confusion a very natural state to be in. This series is at its best when it's at its most grounded. It does go off the rails a bit here and there, unnecessarily for mine, which robs this of a further point, and spoiled what could and should have been a more satisfactory ending.
That said, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen should still be read by everyone. No, it isn't remembered as fondly as Watchmen, or V, or a great other number of his heralded works, but the man boundless creativity and skill is well and truly on display here. It's just not as immediate or obvious. Be warned though, it's not a quick read. 4/5
OmniBen.
August 22, 2018
A smorgasbord of intertextual references. I absolutely adore it.
April 29, 2022
"The British Empire has always encountered difficulty in distinguishing between its heroes and its monsters." - Campion Bond.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Jubilee Edition by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill has to be the most ambitious crossover ever made. Imagine in an alternate Victorian era; the British government recruited six literary characters and teamed up to fight other canon characters of great literature. The League was originally envisioned as a Victorian Justice League of America, specifically as a crossover of several iconic characters in Victorian-Era English literature teaming up to combat equally iconic villains from the popular fiction of the same era.
While initially reading like a steampunk high adventure story, the later volumes expanded in scope considerably. As Moore clarified in interviews, the League became less about telling sophisticated adventure stories and more interested in "deconstruction" as a means and an end. The League is set in a parallel universe comprised entirely of characters from different works of fiction, across genres and authors of different styles. It asserts that all fiction is valid from the beginning of human writing to the future visions dreamed up by science fiction visionaries. It applies arc welding to the whole of human literature, theatre, opera, popular music, cinema and television, and some odd mentions to comics for good measure.
Vol. I - The "origins episode" where Campion Bond of MI6 puts together the Team - Mina Murray (formerly Mina Harker from Bram Stoker's Dracula); Allan Quatermain (from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines); Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, twenty years after the events of Robert Louis Stevenson's book; Hawley Griffin, the title character of H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man; and the only character outside of English literature, Captain Nemo, from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island to combat "The Doctor" (also known as Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu) of Limehouse and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. The supplementary story (in the back pages of each issue in the Volume) "Alan and the Sundered Veil" serves as a prequel to the story, following on Quatermain's activities before his encounter with Mina.
Vol. II - The gang is still working and unhappy about working, with MI6 under the new M - Mycroft Holmes. Their new threat is the Martian Invasion from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. The supplementary story is The New Traveller's Almanac which serves as a sequel and postscript to the story and goes into a pop-cultural reference overload like never before; all of the literature from Goldfinger to Gormenghast is located here.
Black Dossier - This distinctive book is one part comic, another part expanded universe appendix and an "interquel" between Volume 2 and Volume 3. The action shifts from the Victorian Era to the 50s landscape of spy fiction, making references to famous films and TV Shows. The likes of Harry Lime, Emma Peel, Campion Bond's descendant "Jimmy", and other figures from that era make an appearance. The plot concerns an elaborate side-story, which features the titular Dossier as a framing device for the history of all the different iterations of the League, from the one in Shakespeare's time through to World War II and brings the references to a truly ridiculous level. There's plenty of genre-shifting within the volumes, including an excerpt from a Beatnik novel, 18th Century pornography and a finale rendered in 3D. There's also an appearance of a particular racist character, which made me very uncomfortable. Disagreements about the release of this comic led to Moore and O'Neill shifting to Top Shelf.
Knowledge of the period book is beneficial to understanding the subtle goings-on, if not the main plot. Each Volume ends with a text-only supplement that provides clues and an "info dump" on the expanded universe. I wasn't that mad about reading these because they feel very dense. It would've been fun if they were turned into a comic for it to be more engaging because there is A LOT of info in this so-called "manual" - you would practically need an English Literature degree to get all of these references. But I am somewhat thankful that we have some backstory of this universe.
O'Neill's illustrations are beautiful to look at! The series has brilliant line work, including the tricky tactic of showing the appearance of the Invisible Man. The series follows a grid format, but it never feels restrictive. You'll have a dialogue scene with sixteen tiny panels on a page and think that the story might be slowing down…only when you turn the page and see a vast blown up airship. It strikes an outstanding balance between a grand narrative and great visuals. Also referencing TLOEG's sequels, the drawings are widely imaginative and colourful. As the series and timeline progress, the artwork shifts and becomes more surrealistic, even more brilliant to see. I especially love the subtle details that appear in the background, which sometimes always has something relating to the pop-cultural/canon works.
I especially love the comic's genre shift as time goes on (both in-universe and out-universe)! The Black Dossier brings out the world of Victorian adventure novels into a mid-20th-century spy caper. It also happens internally at least once per Volume, between the main comic narrative and the supplementary materials. These are usually prose of some sort, whether intelligence report, travelogue, or pulp sci-fi, but they can get... bizarre. The Black Dossier, for example, includes sections done in the style of an 18th-century satirical broadsheet, an Elizabethan drama, a beat novel, and a Tijuana bible based on 1984, among others; Volume II even includes a board game!
The various members' vices, flaws, and prejudices can sometimes lead the team to fall apart, but knowing that also makes them extraordinary (which is further elaborated in Volume II). Regarding Campion Bond's quote (above this review), you begin to find that it rings true for almost every single character in the series; every villain is some sort of bastardised hero, and nearly every hero is downright monstrous. From The Black Dossier onwards, Moore started more heavily focusing on deconstructive author tract that if someone isn't familiar with Moore's thoughts, you'd never fully understand why he does what he does on the pages.
Less so in matters of plot and more in terms of the many references to other works in the series. In later volumes, mainly, when Moore is dealing with more modern creations and has to work around copyright, he often cannot outright name the character or story being referred to without getting into potential legal trouble. Moore usually has to resort to rather roundabout ways of making the point. This can, at times, lead to somewhat tortuous and strained examples of the characters essentially telling each other things they should already know or wouldn't bother explaining out loud, to include a reference Moore wants to make.
"I could have just been a traveller. You could have taught music. But no. We always have to be the heroes, don't we?" - Allan Quatermain
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Jubilee Edition by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill has to be the most ambitious crossover ever made. Imagine in an alternate Victorian era; the British government recruited six literary characters and teamed up to fight other canon characters of great literature. The League was originally envisioned as a Victorian Justice League of America, specifically as a crossover of several iconic characters in Victorian-Era English literature teaming up to combat equally iconic villains from the popular fiction of the same era.
While initially reading like a steampunk high adventure story, the later volumes expanded in scope considerably. As Moore clarified in interviews, the League became less about telling sophisticated adventure stories and more interested in "deconstruction" as a means and an end. The League is set in a parallel universe comprised entirely of characters from different works of fiction, across genres and authors of different styles. It asserts that all fiction is valid from the beginning of human writing to the future visions dreamed up by science fiction visionaries. It applies arc welding to the whole of human literature, theatre, opera, popular music, cinema and television, and some odd mentions to comics for good measure.
Vol. I - The "origins episode" where Campion Bond of MI6 puts together the Team - Mina Murray (formerly Mina Harker from Bram Stoker's Dracula); Allan Quatermain (from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines); Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, twenty years after the events of Robert Louis Stevenson's book; Hawley Griffin, the title character of H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man; and the only character outside of English literature, Captain Nemo, from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island to combat "The Doctor" (also known as Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu) of Limehouse and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. The supplementary story (in the back pages of each issue in the Volume) "Alan and the Sundered Veil" serves as a prequel to the story, following on Quatermain's activities before his encounter with Mina.
Vol. II - The gang is still working and unhappy about working, with MI6 under the new M - Mycroft Holmes. Their new threat is the Martian Invasion from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. The supplementary story is The New Traveller's Almanac which serves as a sequel and postscript to the story and goes into a pop-cultural reference overload like never before; all of the literature from Goldfinger to Gormenghast is located here.
Black Dossier - This distinctive book is one part comic, another part expanded universe appendix and an "interquel" between Volume 2 and Volume 3. The action shifts from the Victorian Era to the 50s landscape of spy fiction, making references to famous films and TV Shows. The likes of Harry Lime, Emma Peel, Campion Bond's descendant "Jimmy", and other figures from that era make an appearance. The plot concerns an elaborate side-story, which features the titular Dossier as a framing device for the history of all the different iterations of the League, from the one in Shakespeare's time through to World War II and brings the references to a truly ridiculous level. There's plenty of genre-shifting within the volumes, including an excerpt from a Beatnik novel, 18th Century pornography and a finale rendered in 3D. There's also an appearance of a particular racist character, which made me very uncomfortable. Disagreements about the release of this comic led to Moore and O'Neill shifting to Top Shelf.
Knowledge of the period book is beneficial to understanding the subtle goings-on, if not the main plot. Each Volume ends with a text-only supplement that provides clues and an "info dump" on the expanded universe. I wasn't that mad about reading these because they feel very dense. It would've been fun if they were turned into a comic for it to be more engaging because there is A LOT of info in this so-called "manual" - you would practically need an English Literature degree to get all of these references. But I am somewhat thankful that we have some backstory of this universe.
O'Neill's illustrations are beautiful to look at! The series has brilliant line work, including the tricky tactic of showing the appearance of the Invisible Man. The series follows a grid format, but it never feels restrictive. You'll have a dialogue scene with sixteen tiny panels on a page and think that the story might be slowing down…only when you turn the page and see a vast blown up airship. It strikes an outstanding balance between a grand narrative and great visuals. Also referencing TLOEG's sequels, the drawings are widely imaginative and colourful. As the series and timeline progress, the artwork shifts and becomes more surrealistic, even more brilliant to see. I especially love the subtle details that appear in the background, which sometimes always has something relating to the pop-cultural/canon works.
I especially love the comic's genre shift as time goes on (both in-universe and out-universe)! The Black Dossier brings out the world of Victorian adventure novels into a mid-20th-century spy caper. It also happens internally at least once per Volume, between the main comic narrative and the supplementary materials. These are usually prose of some sort, whether intelligence report, travelogue, or pulp sci-fi, but they can get... bizarre. The Black Dossier, for example, includes sections done in the style of an 18th-century satirical broadsheet, an Elizabethan drama, a beat novel, and a Tijuana bible based on 1984, among others; Volume II even includes a board game!
The various members' vices, flaws, and prejudices can sometimes lead the team to fall apart, but knowing that also makes them extraordinary (which is further elaborated in Volume II). Regarding Campion Bond's quote (above this review), you begin to find that it rings true for almost every single character in the series; every villain is some sort of bastardised hero, and nearly every hero is downright monstrous. From The Black Dossier onwards, Moore started more heavily focusing on deconstructive author tract that if someone isn't familiar with Moore's thoughts, you'd never fully understand why he does what he does on the pages.
Less so in matters of plot and more in terms of the many references to other works in the series. In later volumes, mainly, when Moore is dealing with more modern creations and has to work around copyright, he often cannot outright name the character or story being referred to without getting into potential legal trouble. Moore usually has to resort to rather roundabout ways of making the point. This can, at times, lead to somewhat tortuous and strained examples of the characters essentially telling each other things they should already know or wouldn't bother explaining out loud, to include a reference Moore wants to make.
"I could have just been a traveller. You could have taught music. But no. We always have to be the heroes, don't we?" - Allan Quatermain
October 22, 2019
Tomo triple que reúne por primera vez los tres libros de LoEG que aún hoy en día se publican bajo el paraguas de Vertigo, muy a pesar de los autores: Vol. I, Vol. II y Black Dossier.
August 4, 2022
“Strange. He thought me... an enemy... of the state... never reasoning... that it might suit the state... to create... its own enemy. Shadowboxing, Bond. We're all just... shadowboxing.”
Professor James Moriarty, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume One, 2000
---
A monstrous tome, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Jubilee Edition includes The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (henceforth LoEG) Volumes One, Two, and the Black Dossier, including all of its ephemera, bonus covers, and other extras. As Alan Moore retired from writing comics soon after concluding the LoEG series with Volume Four: The Tempest, I wanted to go back to refresh my knowledge of what all happened in this rather interminable, bizarre series of comics, as it had been some time since I’d last read them. Revisiting these three early volumes, I was reminded of what I found compelling about them, but also noticed some of the issues that grated on me later in the series begin to creep in as well. All in all, this was among Moore’s works I enjoyed the most, as Moore creates with the artistic collaboration of Kevin O’Neill a vibrant and engaging tale that also tries to have something to say about how fiction shapes the world.
Positing a world in which all of our world’s fiction is true and coexists as a chaotic whole, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen starts off on a fascinating note, a dark steampunk crossover extravaganza that pulls together characters from classic late nineteenth-century literature, when the genres we call horror, romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and capital L Literature were all muddled up, in the process of forming the origins of today’s popular culture.
Moore makes an interesting choice to set this piece at the time and place he did, a hundred years before its present moment. The parallels between the late ‘90s “end of history” and the twilight years of the British Empire are striking, making for a convenient place to interrogate popular fiction as a lens of societal attitudes.
At first glance, through all this Moore achieves the feat of piecing all of the disparate, contradictory, literary pieces into a cohesive whole, one in which England was invaded by Martians in 1898 and was taken over by the totalitarian IngSoc regime in 1948, among other alternate events. Virtually every panel contains some reference or nod to some work of literature or comic or even TV show or film, whether they be a photo on the wall, a statue, or even a random passerby on the street, and tracking down the reference is definitely part of the fun of the comic. There are numerous fan groups online devoted to tracking it all down.
In Volumes One and Two, we are introduced to the “League” circa 1898, as one Mina Murry is tasked with assembling a covert force for British intelligence, recruiting various individuals with certain talents. Taking such classic characters as Dr. Jekyll, Nemo, and Alan Quartermain, accentuating their flaws as representative of the Victorian ethos, in particular, Mr. Hyde’s bigotry and vengefulness and Hawley Griffin’s extreme misogyny, and making them explicit agents of the crown to use in espionage against its enemies, both earthly and alien, makes literal the role of fiction in shaping the world. As the league members, each in the game for reasons of their own, tangle with government conspiracies, foreign threats, and the Martian invasion alike, they manage to save the Empire in spite of everything.
The Black Dossier fast forwards to 1958, in the aftermath of the Big Brother government that turned the UK into a totalitarian nightmare, as members try to find the Black Dossier, the government’s collection of information on them and all their iterations going back to the time of Prospero. A fitting end, Black Dossier is an esoteric and bombastic work illustrating the transformation between “classic” and more modern literature in a 20th century best by disasters. It is also here that Moore’s love of tedious prose in the form of supplementary materials and pastiches of period literature begin to overtake things a little.
I feel that Moore’s strengths lie in his ability to create a dynamic engrossing detail throughout his work, working with O’Neill to bring an almost cinematic level of dynamic action to the work, Along with the historical records, memoir excerpts, and other primary documents that end each chapter, this composite late 19th-early 20th-century world is brought to life. Moore and O’Neill spare no detail, down to the untranslated Arabic, French, and Mandarin speech bubbles. The Black Dossier in particular devotes much of its page count to detailed pastiches of period art styles, with O’Neill capturing the feel and vibe of everything from Shakespeare to Tijuana Bibles. Moore’s prose, on the other hand, ranges from dry to practically incomprehensible. These pastiches are great illustrations of how all these references can become a little oppressive and the general message of the work as a whole becomes lost.
This is particularly evident in how Moore treats the very elements of period pulp literature that the work is attempting to satirize. In his “deconstruction” of genre lit, Moore ultimately doesn't seem to “subvert” it much. While commenting on the jingoistic racism and sexism endemic in much classic European, particularly English, literature, takes most of the source material at face value, not really critiquing the racist or sexist depictions but replicating them, just perhaps with tongue supposedly in cheek. In particular, Moore’s favorite trope of using sexual assault and rape as shorthand for the cognitive dissonance of period literature.
In spite of working to critique the colonialist attitudes and disturbing gender and sexual attitudes of the turn of the century English fiction, both as products of their times and products actually shaping the attitudes of their times, for the most part, he plays these elements straight, with his rather clumsy attempt to rehabilitate the Gollywog in Black Dossier being particularly egregious.
All in all, these three works are fascinating explorations of period literature and are fun romps through the morally compromised world of vintage English pop culture (at least if you don’t bother to attempt to force your way through the interminable supplementary material that concludes each volume). On that note, I’d recommend not going any further in the series and just leave it here.
I discuss my feelings on Moore's other works in LoEG and his genre deconstruction in general at https://spoonbridge.medium.com/decons..., Harris Tome Corner, here.
Professor James Moriarty, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume One, 2000
---
A monstrous tome, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Jubilee Edition includes The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (henceforth LoEG) Volumes One, Two, and the Black Dossier, including all of its ephemera, bonus covers, and other extras. As Alan Moore retired from writing comics soon after concluding the LoEG series with Volume Four: The Tempest, I wanted to go back to refresh my knowledge of what all happened in this rather interminable, bizarre series of comics, as it had been some time since I’d last read them. Revisiting these three early volumes, I was reminded of what I found compelling about them, but also noticed some of the issues that grated on me later in the series begin to creep in as well. All in all, this was among Moore’s works I enjoyed the most, as Moore creates with the artistic collaboration of Kevin O’Neill a vibrant and engaging tale that also tries to have something to say about how fiction shapes the world.
Positing a world in which all of our world’s fiction is true and coexists as a chaotic whole, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen starts off on a fascinating note, a dark steampunk crossover extravaganza that pulls together characters from classic late nineteenth-century literature, when the genres we call horror, romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and capital L Literature were all muddled up, in the process of forming the origins of today’s popular culture.
Moore makes an interesting choice to set this piece at the time and place he did, a hundred years before its present moment. The parallels between the late ‘90s “end of history” and the twilight years of the British Empire are striking, making for a convenient place to interrogate popular fiction as a lens of societal attitudes.
At first glance, through all this Moore achieves the feat of piecing all of the disparate, contradictory, literary pieces into a cohesive whole, one in which England was invaded by Martians in 1898 and was taken over by the totalitarian IngSoc regime in 1948, among other alternate events. Virtually every panel contains some reference or nod to some work of literature or comic or even TV show or film, whether they be a photo on the wall, a statue, or even a random passerby on the street, and tracking down the reference is definitely part of the fun of the comic. There are numerous fan groups online devoted to tracking it all down.
In Volumes One and Two, we are introduced to the “League” circa 1898, as one Mina Murry is tasked with assembling a covert force for British intelligence, recruiting various individuals with certain talents. Taking such classic characters as Dr. Jekyll, Nemo, and Alan Quartermain, accentuating their flaws as representative of the Victorian ethos, in particular, Mr. Hyde’s bigotry and vengefulness and Hawley Griffin’s extreme misogyny, and making them explicit agents of the crown to use in espionage against its enemies, both earthly and alien, makes literal the role of fiction in shaping the world. As the league members, each in the game for reasons of their own, tangle with government conspiracies, foreign threats, and the Martian invasion alike, they manage to save the Empire in spite of everything.
The Black Dossier fast forwards to 1958, in the aftermath of the Big Brother government that turned the UK into a totalitarian nightmare, as members try to find the Black Dossier, the government’s collection of information on them and all their iterations going back to the time of Prospero. A fitting end, Black Dossier is an esoteric and bombastic work illustrating the transformation between “classic” and more modern literature in a 20th century best by disasters. It is also here that Moore’s love of tedious prose in the form of supplementary materials and pastiches of period literature begin to overtake things a little.
I feel that Moore’s strengths lie in his ability to create a dynamic engrossing detail throughout his work, working with O’Neill to bring an almost cinematic level of dynamic action to the work, Along with the historical records, memoir excerpts, and other primary documents that end each chapter, this composite late 19th-early 20th-century world is brought to life. Moore and O’Neill spare no detail, down to the untranslated Arabic, French, and Mandarin speech bubbles. The Black Dossier in particular devotes much of its page count to detailed pastiches of period art styles, with O’Neill capturing the feel and vibe of everything from Shakespeare to Tijuana Bibles. Moore’s prose, on the other hand, ranges from dry to practically incomprehensible. These pastiches are great illustrations of how all these references can become a little oppressive and the general message of the work as a whole becomes lost.
This is particularly evident in how Moore treats the very elements of period pulp literature that the work is attempting to satirize. In his “deconstruction” of genre lit, Moore ultimately doesn't seem to “subvert” it much. While commenting on the jingoistic racism and sexism endemic in much classic European, particularly English, literature, takes most of the source material at face value, not really critiquing the racist or sexist depictions but replicating them, just perhaps with tongue supposedly in cheek. In particular, Moore’s favorite trope of using sexual assault and rape as shorthand for the cognitive dissonance of period literature.
In spite of working to critique the colonialist attitudes and disturbing gender and sexual attitudes of the turn of the century English fiction, both as products of their times and products actually shaping the attitudes of their times, for the most part, he plays these elements straight, with his rather clumsy attempt to rehabilitate the Gollywog in Black Dossier being particularly egregious.
All in all, these three works are fascinating explorations of period literature and are fun romps through the morally compromised world of vintage English pop culture (at least if you don’t bother to attempt to force your way through the interminable supplementary material that concludes each volume). On that note, I’d recommend not going any further in the series and just leave it here.
I discuss my feelings on Moore's other works in LoEG and his genre deconstruction in general at https://spoonbridge.medium.com/decons..., Harris Tome Corner, here.
January 1, 2020
While this is an interesting deconstruction of the Victorian ideal and the kind of people that society produced, the fact that the characters we follow are also treated as heroes by the narrative makes all the racism and sexual assault seem justified. If I didn't know that Alan Moore's politics recent all that I'd assume that it was written by someone awful who really meant all that. It doesn't change that reading The Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen was at best tedious, and at worst disgusting.
January 20, 2021
To me, Alan Moore is an intensely talented writer but his works are hit or miss with regard to my tastes. Mind you that this never has stopped me from reading his stuff, it is just some are better than others. LoEG is equal parts historical fact, fiction, and madness stitched together with Moore's typical style of skewering the reader into learning something about it all.
If you have seen the movie, this is better IMHO, but if you are looking for the same cast of characters, you may be slightly disappointed to find that Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray are not present and Ms. Murry is not (spoiler) a vampire. Nemo, Hyde, Quatermain, and The Invisible Man are here but in slightly different ways than you may know them. I don't want to go too deep but for fans of the historical characters and Moore's style, this is a great book to go with.
If you have seen the movie, this is better IMHO, but if you are looking for the same cast of characters, you may be slightly disappointed to find that Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray are not present and Ms. Murry is not (spoiler) a vampire. Nemo, Hyde, Quatermain, and The Invisible Man are here but in slightly different ways than you may know them. I don't want to go too deep but for fans of the historical characters and Moore's style, this is a great book to go with.
July 4, 2024
I adore these books. From Vol. 1 to Tempest. The weakest in this Jubilee Omni, Black Dossier, is still an Alan Moore twist on the James Bond canon and allows for his sometimes-used style of standalone stories and prose to blend.
Vol. 1 is a cracking start, bold, bloody, dark and pulpy and appropriately offensive. But Vol. 2 is my personal favourite; a genuine fitting end and resolution to character arcs that have been well built, surprising and beautiful moments that still carry that brutal twang. Aliens, monsters, and Mr. Hyde...
Vol. 1 is a cracking start, bold, bloody, dark and pulpy and appropriately offensive. But Vol. 2 is my personal favourite; a genuine fitting end and resolution to character arcs that have been well built, surprising and beautiful moments that still carry that brutal twang. Aliens, monsters, and Mr. Hyde...
November 21, 2020
Three and a half. Could’ve been four and a half had I not read The Black Dossier which makes up the final 40% or so of this lovely chunky bugger, which takes it from a fun, quirky and frequently very amusing comic into a very occasionally brilliant but predominantly self indulgent and disjointed mess really. It’s The White Album basically, so do yourself a favour, save some money and just read the first two.
October 3, 2024
I rate this below Sandman and Watchmen, but above Sin City. It's narrative structure, especially Black Dossier, is clever, and literature geeks will love all the character references and Easter eggs. I didn't rate it super high because the "dossier" sections were dense and slow, making it a slog to read.
Also, be warned if reading at work or around kids: there is SO MUCH nudity and sex.
Also, be warned if reading at work or around kids: there is SO MUCH nudity and sex.
Want to read
October 4, 2019LoEG I + Loeg II + Loeg BD = Jubilee.
June 17, 2022
Different than the movie. IMHO that's a good thing. Both are an enjoyable ride.
Be careful. This is for teens or above. Especially in the black dossier which has a lot of sexual depictions.
Be careful. This is for teens or above. Especially in the black dossier which has a lot of sexual depictions.
August 2, 2025
the retro sexism and jingoism may be historically correct, but didn't make for a fun read.
May 25, 2019
I especially liked the first half of the book featuring the League. The members deal with an invasion from Mars and must obtain a secret weapon from Dr. Moreau. Hyde was the most interesting character. The second half is variety of odds and ends including a story in 3D. Recommended.
February 1, 2025
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen est une pure merveille pour les amateurs de littérature et de pop culture. Alan Moore réussit un tour de force en rassemblant des personnages issus de différentes œuvres classiques et en les faisant cohabiter de façon totalement crédible. Le mélange fonctionne à la perfection, et l’univers steampunk donne une ambiance unique à l’histoire.
Le scénario est intelligent, plein de références, et les dessins de Kevin O’Neill collent parfaitement à l’atmosphère du récit. C’est dense, c’est bien écrit, et on sent l’amour du détail à chaque page. Une excellente lecture, que l’on soit fan de comics, de littérature classique ou des deux à la fois !
Le scénario est intelligent, plein de références, et les dessins de Kevin O’Neill collent parfaitement à l’atmosphère du récit. C’est dense, c’est bien écrit, et on sent l’amour du détail à chaque page. Une excellente lecture, que l’on soit fan de comics, de littérature classique ou des deux à la fois !
February 9, 2022
La joya del ya de por sí refulgente Universo ABC.
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