The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. As of 2005 it comprises two six-issue limited series, each collected in graphic novel format. There is also a prequel short story, "Allan and the Sundered Veil", included in the first series, and an extensive appendix detailing the alternate universe the League is set in, called "The New Traveller's Almanac", in Volume Two. The story takes place in 1898 in a fictional world where all of the characters and events from literature (and possibly the entirety of fiction) coexist. The world the characters inhabit is one more technologically advanced than our own was in the same era.
Contents |
[edit] About the series
The concept of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has a seed in the comic book superhero teams like Justice League of America, Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice Society. Even the title "Extraordinary Gentlemen" evokes Marvel's X-Men. However, the characters in the League are mainly from prose fiction, not comics.
The Victorian setting allowed Moore and O'Neill to insert "in-jokes" and cameos from many of the great works of Victorian fiction, while also making contemporary references and jibes, and also bear numerous steampunk influences. In the first issue, for example, there is a half-finished bridge to link Britain and France, referencing problems constructing the real-world Channel Tunnel. The juxtaposition of characters from different sources in the same story is similar to science fiction writer Philip José Farmer's works centering around the Wold Newton family.
Besides the character of Campion Bond, who could not be called the ancestor of James Bond directly due to licensing issues, every character in the series, from the dominatrix / schoolmistress Rosa Coote to single-panel throwaway characters like Inspector Dick Donovan, is an established character from a previous work of fiction or an ancestor of a character from modern-day fiction. This has lent the series considerable popularity with fans of esoteric Victoriana, who have delighted in attempting to place every character who makes an appearance.
Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are notably absent from the League's adventures due to their deaths prior to the events of the series, though the former has a brother (Mycroft Holmes) in the League and appears in a flashback sequence, and the latter's connections to Wilhelmina Murray do not go unnoticed. Holmes is still believed by the public to be deceased following the events of The Final Problem. Moore has noted that he felt these two seminal characters would overwhelm the rest of the cast, thus making the book a lot less fun.
[edit] Second press run on issue 5
Issue #5 of Volume one contained an authentic vintage advertisement for a "Marvel"-brand douche. Marvel Comics is DC's chief rival within the industry and Moore had had a public dispute with Marvel, his former employer. This ad caused DC executive Paul Levitz to order the entire print run destroyed and reprinted with the offensive advertisement edited. Some copies of the pulped print run escaped destruction and are the rarest modern comic books in existence. It is estimated that fewer than 100 copies of this book exist, and none were actually circulated.
In a later title, Moore creates a "Miracle Douche Recall" headline on a newspaper, which is not only a reference to this furor, but is also a reference to the Marvelman / Miracleman furor, when Marvel Comics had previously forced Marvelman, which was written by Alan Moore, to change its name to Miracleman despite the "Marvelman" having been around for 40 years.
[edit] Future works
Alan Moore has announced his intentions to write the adventures of other leagues in different historical eras. One group of the heroes is seen in a portrait dated 1787 in the League's headquarters in the first volume of the comic, featuring 18th century heroes such as an elderly Gulliver, dark-caped Doctor Syn, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Fanny Hill, among others.
Another "Alternative League" is shown in the form of a sketch drawn by O'Neill titled "Les Hommes Mystérieux", showing an ensemble of French heroes and anti-heroes like the Vernian Robur, the Master of the World, Fantômas, Arsène Lupin, and the lesser-known Nyctalope. It is mentioned in the back-up Almanac that both groups will eventually fight each other.
Moore departed from Warner Bros., including its subsidiaries DC Comics and Wildstorm Comics, as a result of a dispute with the filmmaker over an incorrect allegation that Moore had approved of the film version of another of his comic book works, V for Vendetta, and failed to retract the comment or apologize. As a result, Moore has confirmed that any future installments of League stories will be published by Top Shelf Productions and Knockabout Comics.
[edit] The Black Dossier
The next published installment of the story will be called "The Black Dossier" (referred to as "The Dark Dossier" during early announcements of its existence), named for a fictional book the plot revolves around. The official website of Wildstorm Comics gives a synopsis of the plot in a press release:
| “ | England in the mid-1950s is not the same as it was. The Powers That Be have instituted some changes. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of an iron-fisted regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return in search of some answers — answers that can only be found in a book buried deep in the vaults of their old headquarters — a book that holds the key to the hidden history of the League throughout the ages: The Black Dossier. As Allan and Mina delve into the details of their precursors, some dating back centuries, they must elude their dangerous pursuers who are hell-bent on retrieving the lost manuscript... and ending the League once and for all. [1] | ” |
It will contain a 'Tijuana Bible' insert and a 3-D section complete with custom glasses, as well as additional text pieces, maps, and a cutaway double-page spread of Captain Nemo's Nautilus submarine by Kevin O'Neill. Alan Moore himself mentioned working on a LP record that would be released with the book. [2]
The Black Dossier will slip in between volumes two and three. Its release date has been repeatedly pushed back: it was originally solicited for May 30, 2006, then October 25, 2006, then January 10, 2007, and currently is slated for release on October 24, 2007. [1]
A few details regarding the stories that will be featured in the volume have been confirmed. The book will contain stories about various Leagues. There will be a section detailing its foundation, involving Prospero, the protagonist from the Shakespeare play The Tempest, told in the manner of a lost Shakespeare folio for a play called Fairy's Fortunes Founded, fully illustrated.
The story about the 18th-century League, the Gulliver group, is written in the form of an imaginary sequel to John Cleland's Fanny Hill, titled Being the Further of the Adventures of a Woman of Pleasure, with lots of text and full-page illustrations, like in the illustrated Fanny Hill that the Marquis Von Bayros illustrated.
There will be a Beat Generation novel, allegedly inspired by the activities of the League in America during the 1950s, as written by Sal Paradise, who was the surrogate for Jack Kerouac that appeared in On the Road. Moore discussed the possibility of a 1950s League in an interview written prior to the release of the second volume, although it is unknown how much of these musings made it into The Black Dossier's 1950s setting.[3]
There is also a twenty-five page "Life of Orlando", which tells the entire life of Orlando from his birth in the City of Thebes in 1190 B.C. This story will give the timeline for the entire The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's world, up to the Second World War, with lots of famous fictional characters and events.
According to Moore, the part of the book which is set in 1958 deals with the residual influence of George Orwell's Big Brother Government, from the book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Originally, this book was set in 1948, but the publishers insisted in changing the title to 1984, setting it in the future. So, by the time the book opens in 1958, the Big Brother Government will have been over for a number of years. The Tijuana bible will reference Pornsec, which, in Orwell's book, work for the Ministry of Propaganda, and produce these little pornographic comics, as dreamed up by Orwell's Thought Police.[1]
[edit] The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol. III): Century
The third volume will be a 216-page epic spanning almost a hundred years and entitled Century. Divided into three 72-page chapters, each a self-contained narrative to avoid frustrating cliff-hanger delays between episodes, it will take place in three distinct eras, building to an apocalyptic conclusion occurring in the current twenty-first century. The story will involve the birthing of a Moonchild, a child that will bring the Apocalypse.
This volume is set to be released in 2008.[2]
[edit] History of the League
Moore's work includes references to previous leagues and suggests there will be others subsequently. According to the New Traveller's Almanac, an appendix to the trade paperback collection of The League Vol. 2, the earliest incarnation of the League was known as "Prospero's Men".
[edit] Prospero's Men
- Prospero, the Duke of Milan, the sorcerer protagonist of Shakespeare's 1611 play The Tempest.
- Caliban, Prospero's malformed, treacherous servant, also from The Tempest.
- Ariel, a sprite and air spirit, bound to serve Prospero, also from The Tempest.
- Christian, a pilgrim Everyman, protagonist of John Bunyan's 1678 novel The Pilgrim's Progress.
- Captain Robert Owe-Much, a British explorer and discoverer of the Floating Island called Scoti Moria or Summer Island, President of the Council of the Society of Owe-Much, and the central character from Richard Head's 1673 book The Floating Island (published under the pseudonym Frank Careless).
This league collapsed in 1690 when Christian found the "heavenly country" for which he was seeking, and thus left this world. Allegedly, Prospero later followed him, as hinted in the Almanac. Alan Moore said in an interview that he will detail the founding of this league in the Black Dossier.[3]
[edit] The Pirates' Conference
There was at some point in the 18th century a gathering of pirates. First mentioned in the Almanac, the details of this gathering were never stated. The pirate Captain Clegg, who gathered this group together, was affiliated with the later league assembled by Lemuel Gulliver.
- Long John Silver. The brutal yet strangely paternal pirate from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
- Captain Blood, rumoured to be the greatest buccaneer of them all, from Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini.
- Captain Slaughterboard and his yellow bunkmate. The homosexual pirate first appeared in Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor by Mervyn Peake.
- Captain Pugwash, the amateur pirate who claimed his name was enough to strike fear into the heart of any sea-faring captain, but was in fact taking credit for work done by his Cabin Boy and fellow league Member Tom. From Eagle Comics and many animated TV shows.
- Captain Hook, archenemy of Peter Pan who lost his hand to a crocodile, from Peter Pan by James M. Barrie.
- Captain Pissgums from Zap Comics and many animated TV shows.
There are also two unidentified pirates.
[edit] Gulliver's League
The second league was formed by Lemuel Gulliver and secretly gathered in Montague House, London. They are seen in a picture of the group, dated 1787, shown in Vol. I #2.
- An elderly Lemuel Gulliver, the far-flung protagonist from the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, seen in the portrait with one of the famous miniature sheep at his feet.
- The Reverend Dr. Christopher Syn, also known as the pirate Captain Clegg, and later known as the Scarecrow, the vicar turned pirate turned smuggler in the Doctor Syn novels (1915-1944) of Russell Thorndike.
- Mr. and Mrs. Percy Blakeney from the Scarlet Pimpernel novels of Baroness Orczy published in 1905, set in late 1792. Though most assume that this 'Lady Blakeney' is the same character as Marguerite, Sir Percy's wife in The Scarlet Pimpernel, this grouping takes place several years before the setting of Orczy's novel. As Sir Percy and Marguerite had been married nearly a year at the start of the first novel, this puts the identity of Sir Percy's wife in LOEG into dispute.
- Nathanael "Natty" Bumppo, the hero of the Leatherstocking Tales novels (1827-1841) of James Fenimore Cooper, the most famous of which is Last of the Mohicans. In Cooper's novels he is variously called Deerslayer, Hawkeye and Pathfinder as well as several other names.
- Frances "Fanny" Hill, the eponymous heroine of the 1749 erotic novel Fanny Hill by John Cleland.
One of the stories in The Black Dossier involves this league.[4]
[edit] Speculative early 19th Century League
Some fans of the LoEG series believe that the portraits of the people behind the main 19th Century League on the cover of Volume 1 are an earlier past 19th Century League, made up of characters active in their source material around the 1870's. The picture in which this supposed League is portrayed is inside the League's headquarters in the British Museum. This picture also includes the group portrait of the late 18th Century discovered in the story of Vol. 1. Also in this picture is the actual character Count Allaminstakeo (a mummy), sleeping, as well as a portrait of him.
- Phileas Fogg from Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (Around the World in 80 Days; Book, 1872) by Jules Verne
- Sir Francis Varney from Varney the Vampire (penny dreadful serial, 1847) by James Malcolm Rymer.
- Count Allaminstakeo from "Some Words with a Mummy" by Edgar Allan Poe.
- Sapathwa (a.k.a. the Blue Dwarf) from The Blue Dwarf by Lady Esther Hope (a.k.a. Percy B. St. John)
- Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
- Jack Harkaway from the Jack Harkaway Series by Bracebridge Hemyng.
[edit] The late 19th Century League (Wilhelmina's league)
The Victorian League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is led by Miss Wilhelmina Murray (of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula), recruited for Military Intelligence by one Mr. Campion Bond (who is likely an ancestor of Ian Fleming's James Bond). They meet in the museum that was built on the remains of Montague House.
- Miss Wilhelmina Murray, of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.
- Captain Nemo, the Indian submariner from Jules Verne's 1870 novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, and Journey Through the Impossible.
- Allan Quatermain, the elephant hunter and African explorer of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various sequels.
- Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 short story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
- Hawley Griffin, also known as The Invisible Man, from the 1897 novel by H. G. Wells. (Moore gave Griffin his first name, that of murderer Hawley Crippen).
This league collapsed during the closing days of the Martian invasion when Campion Bond cut his losses and abandoned the now fractured League, after Griffin turned traitor, which started a series of events that lead to the deaths of Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego Mr. Hyde.
[edit] The early 20th Century League (Wilhelmina's 2nd league)
The Almanac hints that another League was led by Miss Wilhelmina Murray, founded after the Victorian league, which she had assembled, collapsed. It was presumably set before the events of The Black Dossier, probably still answering to Campion Bond and meeting in the museum’s secret vault. They still work for Mycroft Holmes' British Intelligence. This League will appear on the third volume.[5].
- Miss Wilhelmina Murray, of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.
- Allan Junior, a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain from H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various sequels.
- Orlando, the sex-changing immortal from many works, but drawn most closely from Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography.
- A. J. Raffles, reformed thief from E. W. Hornung stories.
- Carnacki, the occult detective from Carnacki the Ghost-Finder by William Hope Hodgson.
Professor Challenger, the palaeontologist from The Lost World and its sequels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is mentioned as an occasional consultant to Mina's secondly-assembled League. Doctor Dolittle, the great naturalist and veterinarian first appeared in Hugh Lofting's The Story of Doctor Dolittle and its sequels, is described in the almanac as an associate of Challenger.
Other characters who will appear in the third volume include Mack the Knife, charismatic butcher, Pirate Jenny, furiously angry pirate, both from The Threepenny Opera. It's not known whether they are villains, secondary characters, associates or members of the League.
[edit] The 1950s League
There is also mention of a failed 1950s League that will appear in The Black Dossier. This League presumably had activities in America, teaming up with Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, from the novel On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, against the villainous Dr. Sax.
Moore also claimed that by 1958, the League was disbanded by the government and those members who survived broke into British Intelligence, stole the Black Dossier, and then tried to escape the country while being pursued by a trio of deadly British agents, who are trying to get the Dossier back. One is a character named Jimmy, who carries the cigarette case that Campion Bond had. He's actually James Bond, the British spy created by Ian Fleming for the novel Casino Royale and its sequels, but due to copyright issues, his name cannot be directly referenced.
[edit] The 1960s League
Volume Three will have a story set in 1968 with a League led by Wilhelmina Murray who are summoned to investigate a strange cult operating in London's East End and prevent them from making a Moonchild that might well turn out to be the Antichrist. The Top Shelf description suggests 'long term effects' relating to the League's disbanding during the 1950's. [6]
[edit] The 2008 League
The solicitation for the final issue of Volume Three indicates that, by 2008, the League has gone nearly extinct, except for an apparent member unwillingly trapped in a London mental institution. The Moonchild will have grown to power by this time. Mention has also been made of a Sikh terrorist with a nuclear armed submarine and an ongoing, "intractable" war in Qumar. [7]
[edit] Rival leagues
These copycat leagues were apparently set up by foreign governments such as France and Germany as opponents to the true league, due to the rivalry between these countries and Great Britain that had lasted for centuries, as Alan Moore confirmed in an interview with Wizard #181.
[edit] Les Hommes Mysterieux
Moore has stated that there will be a French version of the League, known as Les Hommes Mysterieux. This group will be active during the time of Mina's second league. The clash between the two groups was mentioned in the "The New Traveller's Almanac".
- Arsène Lupin, a master thief, from the books written by Maurice LeBlanc.
- Robur the Conqueror, an insane genius who creates a flying machine, from the books The Clipper of the Clouds and The Master of the World, by Jules Verne.
- Nyctalope, a superhero created by Jean de La Hire (it was stated that he was shot by Allan Junior, though his condition after that is not made clear in "The New Traveller's Almanac").
- Fantomas, a criminal mastermind created by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain.
Other possible members include:
- Erik, the Phantom of the Opera, a deformed assassin from the book The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux. (Moore had claimed that he would hypothetically set up the Phantom's love interest Christine against Mina Murray should the two Leagues ever fully encounter each other, as both women's characters were enhanced by an encounter with a dark, malformed being.)[citation needed]
- Sâr Dubnotal, a master of the occult from the stories by Norbert Sévestre.
[edit] Die Zwielichthelden, the Twilight Heroes
Moore has stated that there will be a German version of the League, known as Die Zwielichthelden, or "The Twilight Heroes". He has not revealed any other information about this group.
[edit] Plot
[edit] Volume One
The year is 1898. Britain lives in troubled times, where fretful dreams settle upon its Empire's brow. If England's to survive them, a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is to be recruited by British Intelligence. A menagerie of the Empire's greatest heroes, adventurers, and foes is assembled.[citation needed]
Despite the boasting and hubris of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, an event of great self-celebration on the part of the British, the general mood among British leaders and opinion-makers in the late-19th century is pessimistic. France is re-emerging as a world power and expansionist European rival, newly-united nations like Germany and Italy are disturbing the familiar world order, British exports are falling, the country no longer maintains a trade surplus, and the supremacy of the British manufacturing and commercial empire is being threatened by the German Empire and the United States.
Finally, Britain's diplomatic isolation, which Lord Salisbury approvingly called the "splendid isolation" in 1896, has grown increasingly uncomfortable. Britain has no reliable allies, and it is disliked by many in Europe and America, not least for its actions in maintaining the Empire, such as the Jameson Raid in South Africa in 1895, which was a failed attempt to overthrow the Afrikaner government.
Miss Mina Murray is recruited by Campion Bond to assemble the League. Bond dispatches Miss Murray to Egypt along with an unnamed "sea captain" (who later we discover to be Captain Nemo). In Cairo, Murray finds Allan Quatermain, who has become an opium addict. The duo are forced to flee to a port after Quatermain defends Miss Murray from a group of Arabs who attempt to rape her, killing two of their number. At the docks, Nemo emerges from the Nautilus and blasts the pursuing "mohammedan rabble" with a large harpoon gun, rescuing Murray and Quatermain.
Their next assignment is to head to Paris in order to rendezvous with C. Auguste Dupin (a detective from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue") and capture a beast-man who transpires to be Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. He has been hiding in Paris after faking his own suicide, and preying on prostitutes.
With Jekyll/Hyde successfully captured and handed over to MI5, the remaining trio head to a girl's school in Edmonton, run by the sado-masochistic Miss Rosa Coote. Rumours abound that many of the female pupils have become impregnated by the Holy Spirit. After a single night's investigation, the trio discover that the "Holy Spirit" is none other than Hawley Griffin, the Invisible Man, who (much like Jekyll/Hyde) has been hiding since faking his own death. At the time of his capture, he is attacking Eleanor H. Porter's Pollyanna.
The League is then convened at its headquarters in the "secret annexe" of the British Museum, where they are sent to recover a sample of cavorite from the clutches of Fu Manchu (who is not mentioned by name for trademark reasons, but is instead identified by his pseudonym of "The Doctor").
According to Agent Bond, under the supervision of Professor Selwyn Cavor, Britain was secretly planning a moon landing to coincide with the turn-of-the-century celebrations. Cavorite is the key in powering and levitating heavier-than-air machines. However, the Doctor has stolen the cavorite, and may use it in his own efforts to gain revenge on the British Empire.
Whilst Nemo decides to remain on board his submarine, the remaining quartet are dispatched to London's Limehouse district in order to discover more about the Chinese "devil-doctor". Murray and Griffin learn from an informant named Quong Lee (a storyteller from books by Thomas Burke) that Fu Manchu is indeed operating within the area and is planning something big; however, Lee only gives them information in the form of a cryptic riddle, stating, "The waters lap beneath the heavenly bridge. The dragon sleeps below it. My advice to you: do not awaken it." Although Griffin is skeptical, Murray concludes that Manchu's activities must be taking place beneath Rotherhithe Bridge.
Meanwhile, Quatermain and Jekyll enter Manchu's lair itself (an opium den/bar), and Quatermain spots the doctor applying caustic paint to one of his victims. The duo are almost uncovered as spies, but they manage to escape.
Back on board the Nautilus, the League convenes once more and Miss Murray pulls all the strings of evidence together. She believes Manchu had obviously stolen the cavorite for some nefarious purpose, and states that there is an uncompleted tunnel beneath Rotherhithe Bridge, which would be a perfect place for him to craft some form of aerial war machine undiscovered. Four of the group plan to infiltrate his lair and steal back the cavorite, with Nemo remaining on board the Nautilus.
It is Quatermain and Murray who first manage to infiltrate the Doctor's lair, and they discover a gigantic flying craft, heavily armed with guns and cannons (the "dragon" of Quong Lee's riddle). Although they are discovered by a guard, an unnoticed Griffin is able to kill the guard and Quatermain takes his uniform, allowing him a disguise so that he might get inside the Dragon and steal back the cavorite.
Griffin heads back outside to fetch Jekyll in the hopes of creating a diversion. Once inside one of the entrances (some form of office building/warehouse), Griffin infuriates Jekyll to such a degree that he becomes Hyde and begins slaughtering Manchu's henchmen.
Having stolen the cavorite, Murray and Quatermain are re-united with Hyde and Griffin in an underwater glass tunnel, and although they lock themselves in they realise it will only be a matter of time before Manchu's men burst in and kill all of them. To escape, Hyde grabs Quatermain and Murray, with Griffin holding onto his neck. Quatermain blasts a hole in the glass roof with his elephant gun and Murray activates the cavorite, propelling the group upwards through the cascading water. Manchu's base is flooded, the Dragon is destroyed, and the Nautilus rescues the group as they fall back down into the Thames.
Bond congratulates the group upon the success of their mission, and leaves the Nautilus with the cavorite, telling them he will take it back to his superior M (another parallel to the James Bond mythos). However, Griffin is oddly absent from the group, having disguised a load of brooms as himself, using his own bandages, spectacles and clothing. He follows Bond back to the Military Intelligence Headquarters, and discovers that M is in fact Professor Moriarty, the arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. Moriarty has constructed his own aerial war machine, and with the cavorite he can now put it into action. Griffin returns to the Nautilus and informs the group of what he's discovered. Nemo realises that M is Moriarty, and that he plans to bomb London's east-end, destroying what is left of Manchu's criminal empire.
After Murray and Quartermain try futilely to prevent Moriarty from launching his ship, and have a run in with The Artful Dodger from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, the League embark aboard the Victoria, a hot-air balloon on Nemo's ship that was once owned by Jules Verne's "Five Weeks in a Balloon's" Samuel Ferguson, and board Moriarty's ship.
Hyde and Nemo launch an attack on the crew (Nemo using a minigun, Hyde using his fists), whilst Murray and Quatermain ascend to the top deck where Moriarty is waiting (Griffin has cowardly stripped and remains by the balloon, which is still anchored to the ship). Quatermain guns down Moriarty's guards using his own machine-gun; however, the Professor disarms him and prepares to kill him. Miss Murray smashes the case containing the cavorite and Moriarty foolishly rushes toward the device, grabs onto it, and propels himself into the night sky. The League leave the ship via the means of the balloon, and once again are rescued by the Nautilus, this time manned by Nemo's first mate Ishmael (the protagonist from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick).
The series ends with Mycroft Holmes congratulating the League for their work, telling them to remain in London should there be additional need for them in the future. The comic itself ends with the scene of Martian ships falling towards Woking, and thus sets in motion the second volume.
The book version of Volume one also includes a short illustrated prose prequel called Allan and the Sundered Veil, which features Allan Quatermain, John Carter, Lovecraft's Randolph Carter, and the Time Traveller from H. G. Wells' The Time Machine. This prequel was originally published, serially, at the back of the six individual issues of the comic.
[edit] Volume Two
Volume two opens on Mars, where John Carter and Lt. Gulliver Jones (of Edwin Lester Linden Arnold's Gulliver of Mars) have assembled an alliance (including the Sorns from Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis) to defeat the aliens who have been bedeviling the native Martians. These prove to be the aliens from The War of the Worlds, who learn about Earth from spying on the humans on Mars (using the device from H.G. Wells' The Crystal Egg) and launch themselves there when driven off by the Martian resistance.
When the aliens land on Earth, the League is dispatched to guard the crater in which they have landed. They are present when one of the first Martians emerges from the spacecraft, after an onlooker falls into the pit. When a team of men descend into the pit to make peace with the visitors, the aliens unleash the power of their Heat-Ray. Before the weapon opens fire, Nemo realises its nature and pushes the group onto the ground, thus keeping them below the deadly beam while the rest of the massed crowd is disintegrated. Jekyll turns into Hyde and begins to rage, threatening the aliens with violent death.
Realising that they can hardly fight the creatures alone, the League retreat to a nearby inn ("The Bleak House" - a real public house not far from Horsell common), where they meet a confident military division that has been sent to defend the crater. Hyde indulges in a somewhat compassionate conversation with Mina, and Griffin (under cover of invisibility) leaves to form an alliance with the Martians.
The next morning, the group emerge from the inn and hear the military shelling the spacecraft, and the aliens retaliate with their Heat-Ray. Most of the army division is obliterated along with the inn, which the League were fortunate enough to exit moments before. Presumably, Griffin, who had already woken and left the building, had told the Martians the locations of the army positions and the location of the inn in hopes that the league would be incinerated in their beds.
A carriageman (William Samson, Sr., the father of the Wolf of Kabul) arrives to take the group back to the British Museum, where they shall receive more orders from Mycroft Holmes. He tells Miss Murray to stay at the museum and learn what she can about Mars, also giving her the locations of the British gun emplacements. Hyde and Quatermain return to the crater in order to survey the situation, leaving Mina unprotected. Griffin stays behind, assaults Murray, and helps himself to the rest of the military plans--which he turns over to the Martians.
During their reconnaissance, the other three members of the League come close to a Martian tripod, an enormous three-legged war-machine. They return to their coach and are taken swiftly back to London. Upon returning, Hyde finds Miss Murray lying beaten on the floor and realises what has happened. Shortly after, Mycroft Holmes sends Mina and Quatermain on a new mission, giving them very vague instructions concerning their task.
In the meantime, Nemo and Hyde defend the capital by patrolling London's rivers in the Nautilus. The advanced technology Nemo has aboard the Nautilus proves to be an even match for the Martian Tripods, allowing them to kill and drive back the Martian advance and retrieve samples of their technology and engineering when possible.
During their mission in the countryside, Mina and Allan encounter a man called Teddy Prendick, the protagonist from H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau. He is quite insane and gives them little information, save that in the woods nearby lurks a doctor whom he once encountered. Their search is uneventful, and they return to a country inn. Quatermain remarks that he'll be damned "if [he] sleeps on the floorboards", while Mina replies that he doesn't have to. The two make love, and the scene splits between their love scene, a scene in which Hyde is using a scrap piece of Martian tripod metal as a punching bag on board Nemo's submarine, and a quick interlude where Griffin tells the aliens they "have to do something to the river" in order to stop the Nautilus and invade London. Awakening after sex, Quatermain discovers the scars on Mina's neck, and is seemingly horrified.
The next day Nemo discovers that the Martians have filled the Thames with some sort of red weed, draining all the water and immobilising his submarine. Meanwhile, Quatermain tells Mina that he was not shocked by the nature of her scars, but rather his second wife (named Estella, from Haggard's book Allan's Wife) had similar scars on her own neck, and that he found it odd "that destiny should so distinguish the two women [he] loved the most".
They have sex again in the forest, but this time are disturbed by one of Dr. Moreau's animen, who is comically based on the children's comic-book character Rupert Bear, and indeed the rest of his animal-human hybrids are similar to famous characters from children's fiction ( e.g. Puss in Boots, and the four male protagonists Mr Toad, Mr Rat, Mr Badger and Mr Mole from The Wind in the Willows). The wood is identified (by a station nameboard) as being the Wild Wood from The Wind in the Willows.
Hyde returns to the British Museum and finds Griffin there. Revealing that he has been able to "see" Griffin with a sort of heat-sensing infrared vision (a small detail shown in Volume 1), Hyde exacts his revenge by brutally beating (breaking one of Griffin's legs in the process) and then raping Griffin, "because [his] treatment of Miss Murray was uncivil..." Griffin eventually dies from these injuries.
Mina and Allan meet with Dr. Moreau in his secret hideout in the forest, and tell him that Military Intelligence has asked for something known as "H-142." Moreau seems disturbed by this request, but obliges nonetheless and offers the duo dinner. On their farewell at the train station (where foxes can be seen devouring the body of Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit), the Doctor casually comments that his nephew is the only human who visits him, seeking inspiration in his subjects -- a reference to the real-life painter Gustave Moreau. He also makes a distinct reference to the trial of the publisher of Oz magazine when he describes the sexual tendencies of his Rupert Bear hybrid.
During dinner with Hyde back at the museum, Nemo discovers that the brute has killed Griffin when the Invisible Man's death results in the extensive bloodstains on Hyde's clothing becoming visible. Horrified and disgusted, Nemo attempts to kill Hyde, but is held back by the coachman Samson, who urges him not to, as Hyde's incredible strength may be their only hope against the Martians. Nemo grudgingly agrees.
The following morning, Murray and Quatermain return to London with the H-142 "hybrid", finding gas-masked intelligence agents waiting for them, along with Agent Bond. They proceed to the riverside, where Nemo and Hyde are waiting for them. Bond says that all bridges apart from London Bridge have been blown up in a bid to impede the invaders, and that H-142 must be "delivered". Bond leaves with the cargo crate carrying the hybrid. As the League arrive at the bridge, they see that the Martians have managed to destroy the last of the city's defences and have gathered their forces on the other side for their final push into the city.
Seeing that nothing is stopping the Martians from crossing, Hyde gives Mina a fond farewell, and dances out onto the bridge towards an oncoming tripod, singing happily. The machine attacks him with its heat ray, burning off his skin, but he survives, charging into its front leg and ripping it off. With the walking machine toppled, Hyde rips open the top hatch and begins eating the alien inside. The other tripods activate their rays and kill Hyde with a combined barrage, followed by a gun retort from downriver.
Nemo is curious as to what the guns could be firing, and Bond tells him the H-142 has been fired. Quatermain is confused, and Bond explains indifferently that it was indeed one of Moreau's hybrids, but was in fact a hybrid bacterium, made up of anthrax and streptococcus. Nemo is infuriated, and Bond coolly replies that they will claim that, officially, the Martians died of the common cold, whilst any humans found dead will have been killed by Martians (crossing with Wells' storyline).
Angered by the British government's heartless use of biological weaponry, Nemo leaves in the Nautilus and tells Quatermain and Murray to "never seek [him] again", mistakenly believing that they knew the details of the British plan.
A month later, Mina and Allan are walking through Serpentine Park (which Allan says will soon be named after Hyde, thus giving it the name Hyde Park). Mina says that she is to leave for Coradine, a ladies' commune in Scotland, leaving Allan alone on a park bench, and ending volume two.
[edit] The world of the League
Volume two has an extensive appendix, most of which is filled with an imaginary traveller's account of the alternate universe the League is set in, called The New Traveller's Almanac. This Almanac is noteworthy in that it provides a huge amount of information (46 pages) of background information - all of which is taken from pre-existing literary works or mythology, a large majority of which is difficult to read or at least appreciate without an esoteric knowledge of literature. It shows the plot of the comic to be just a small section of a world inhabited by what appears to be the entirety of fiction.
Many of the places described in the appendices seem to be drawn from Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi's The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (1980), though Moore adds numerous places not covered there.
[edit] Appendices
[edit] Collections
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I, collects vol 1 #1-6
- hardcover: ISBN 1-56389-665-6
- paperback: ISBN 1-56389-858-6
- Absolute edition (deluxe hardcover): ISBN 1-4012-0052-4, including Moore's original scripts and additional artwork by O'Neill
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II, collects vol 2 #6-12
- hardcover: ISBN 1-4012-0117-2
- paperback: ISBN 1-4012-0118-0
- Absolute edition (deluxe hardcover): ISBN 1-4012-0611-5, including Moore's original scripts and additional artwork by O'Neill
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Black Dossier
- hardcover: ISBN 1-4012-0306-X (early 2007)
- Absolute edition (deluxe hardcover): ISBN 1-4012-0751-0 (June, 2007)
[edit] Source works
[edit] Principal characters
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- King Solomon's Mines and sequels, by H. Rider Haggard
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu and sequels, by Sax Rohmer
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
- The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
- The Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
- Moonchild by Aleister Crowley
[edit] Secondary characters
- The First Men in the Moon, The Time Machine, and The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells
- A Princess of Mars and its sequels in the Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation by Edwin Lester Linden Arnold
- The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
- "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
[edit] Similar pastiches
- One of the first modern works to combine characters from earlier fictions is the 1949 novel Silverlock, written by John Myers Myers; every character in this novel is lifted from the pages of works dating back to Beowulf and other ancient tales. It is unclear whether Moore drew any inspiration from Myers' book.
- Tarzan Alive, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, and the rest of the Wold Newton family stories by Philip José Farmer present various heroes and villains of adventure fiction as being part of the same family tree.
- Anno Dracula and sequels, by Kim Newman; the original book is set in London at about the same time as The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and features several characters in common.
- The League of Heroes and sequels, by Xavier Mauméjean ISBN 1-932983-44-9
- Tales of the Shadowmen and sequels, edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier ISBN 1-932983-36-8
- A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny depicts several iconic characters coming together in a battle between good and evil.
- Bill Willingham's Fables is a comic book series featuring characters from fairy tales and folklore.
- The comic novels of Jasper Fforde concern a world inside fiction; and feature fictional characters, e.g Miss Havisham and Humpty Dumpty as some of the key protagonists.
[edit] Film
A film adaptation of the comic book was released in 2003, also by the name The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The film adaptation was not well received by fans or critics however, and was disowned by Moore and O'Neill.
[edit] References
- ^ a b The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier (solicitation). Graphic Novels: Wildstorm. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ News on Upcoming Volumes.
- ^ Alan Moore: The Tripwire Interview
Jess Nevins has also produced a series of annotations for each volume which are available online (see the links) and have been expanded into book form:
- Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (paperback, 239 pages, MonkeyBrain, 2003, ISBN 193226504X, Titan Books, 2006, ISBN 1845763165)
- A Blazing World: The Unofficial Companion to the Second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (paperback, 240 pages, MonkeyBrain, 2004, ISBN 1932265104, Titan Books, 2006, ISBN 1845763173)
- Impossible Territories: An Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen The Black Dossier (paperback, 304 pages, MonkeyBrain, forthcoming August 2007, ISBN 1932265244)
[edit] See also
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen timeline
- The world of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)
- Steampunk
Similar works include:
- Scarlet Traces
- Ruse
- Necronauts
- Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained
- The Five Fists of Science
- List of steampunk works
[edit] External links
- Annotations to the League (Notes and annotations in a page-by-page commentary to the comics.)
- A mirror site for the Commentary
- A fansite, which includes pictorial representations of the Leagues throughout the ages
- League News
- About the Black Dossier
- About Volume III
- The DC Comics Message Board for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Peter Sanderson's in-depth analysis
- Original Text of Gulliver of Mars
- Review of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2, and in-depth detail on other War of the Worlds related comics
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | America's Best Comics superhero teams | Crossover fiction | Graphic novels | Mars in fiction | Steampunk | The War of the Worlds | Wildstorm Comics titles | Wold Newton | Works inspired by Jules Verne | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | Superhero graphic novels
