The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2

Today is the final day for returning books to the school library, and this is the last graphic novel that I checked out.

Title: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Issue: Volume Two
Publisher: DC Comics (Wildstorm)
Date: 2003
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neil
Colorist: Benedict DiMagmaliw
Letterer: William Oakley
Editor: Scott Dunbier, James Lee, Kristy Quinn

The second volume (compiling issues 7-12 of the original comic series) of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen throws the League into the midst of the martian invasion from HG Wells' War of the Worlds.

This is both a more complex and more tightly focused story than the original League arc, and it also involves the deaths of more than one member of the League before all is said and done.

The mixing of literature into the setting continues to be fantastic, and the character development, especially on Mr. Hyde, is great.

This is also a lot more violent than the first volume, with two scenes of particularly disturbing sexual violence.

The backup feature is a travelogue that serves to expand on the characters of Nemo, Mina, and Quatermain through their travels to fantastical places around the world. It also deepens the history of the League. But really, the sometimes dense prose is an excuse to drop as many literary references as possible (Herland! Five Children and It! Shakespeare! Tarzan! Beatles music!), blending them into a world where the strange and bizarre settings of literature coexist.

This continues to be a wonderfully detailed and intense story.

Rating: 8.5/10

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman Volume One

From the school library.

Title: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Issue: Volume One
Publisher: DC Comics (Wildstorm)
Date: 2000
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neil
Colorist: Benedict DiMagmaliw
Letterer: William Oakley
Editor: Scott Dunbier, James Lee, John Nee

Trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the original comic series.

This was one of the earlier arrivals in the current wave of steampunk, and as such, it can be hard to appreciate how original this was when it was first published. Bringing together 19th Century literary figures Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Mina Murray (from Dracula), Allan Quatermain, and the Invisible Man, this story is all-in over-the-top steampunk action, with a dash of intrigue and a ton of literary references.

The story is brutally violent in places, and darkly humorous throughout. It plays with a whole range of elements from British literature and pop culture.

The plot has some fun twists, but is also a bit predictable in places, but the overall flavor of the story and the richness of detail in the art and narration make up for much of that.

The backup prose story is (intentionally) densely wordy, but does a nice job of providing a prequel for the character of Allan Quatermain, while managing to smoothly bring together the works of H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, and H.P. Lovecraft.

Rating: 8/10