World Famous Comics: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
By: Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill Publisher: Wildstorm Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Wildstorm Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 228 Publication Date: September 01, 2004 Release Date: September 01, 2004
Product Description: The inspiration behind the blockbuster movie, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN once again uses the classic characters from familiar literature to tell a tale of epic proportions in Victorian England.In volume two, when alien invaders from Mars mercilessly attack London, the throne quickly calls upon Allan Quatermain, Mina Harker, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, and Dr. Jekyll to protect the empire.Using their various skills and intellect, the League goes about preparing a defense against the invasion but when the Invisible Man joins the Martian's cause, all appears to be lost.Now, as one of the members dies a horrific death, the League turns to the legendary Dr. Moreau as their last desperate hope.
Nothing. Happens. The dialog is good, some of the characteriziation is good but in order to make a story stand out you need... a story. Martians invade, Quartermain and Miss harker go out of town and with no resistance pick up a box. Hyde fights for 3 panels. The end. The characters aren't DOING enough and excpet for Hyde aren't even remotely clever or engaging. One of your characters is a super genius, one is a superb tactician.. have them at least TRY something more brilliant than blow up the bridge and wait.
for the dedicated reader. The second installment in the LOEG saga (which apparently will go on as long as Alan Moore's library holds out) is not quite like the first one. Volume 1 was at its heart a rollicking , globe-hopping adventure story, in the same vein as the books it pays homage to: the Alan Quatermain stories, Dracula, and Victorian trash adventures. My 9-year-old brother loves it. Volume 2 is a much darker story, and my brother won't be getting to read it any time soon. Volume 2, centered around H.G. Wells War of the Worlds, takes place more in England, and there's a whole bunch of pages dedicated to character development only hinted at in Vol. 1. The star of Vol. 2 is definitely Mr. Hyde, who comes across less as a simple monster, and more lke the great Moore anti-heroes, in the same league as Rorschach or V. To be completely honest, the main selling point of Vo. 2 was the New Travelers' Almanac, a 6-part compendium in the back that acts as the densest fan-fiction ever. Under the guise of a series of travel notes, Moore weaves in every possible fiction of the time, and fiction from other times too. (His reference to the Big Lebowski rocked my world.)
This book is not for the casual reader.
The League at it's best! I loved volume 1 and volume 2 was even better. I thoroughly enjoyed the Almanac section of the book and the cool board game and other little "quips" that were added by Moore and O'Neill. There is a little more sexual content in this volume, but it doesn't detract from the book at all. If you are an Allan Moore fan don't pass this book up and Kevin O'Neill's artistry has a superb fit with Alan's writing especially with the time period that The League is portrayed in. It's well worth the money and I can't wait to get the next in the series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier!
League of heroes from classical literature soiled by Alan Moore Definitely a title NOT intended for children, the second volume of League of Extraordinary Heroes features more of Moore's dark and subversive story-telling. And not being good enough to create his own characters, he's taken otherwise wholesome (and PUBLIC DOMAIN) characters from classic literature and warped and perverted these characters into violent, disgusting anti-heroes.
It's almost like Moore has an adgenda here: take popular characters from classics and find a way to soil them in a violent, disinteresting (and ultimately forgettable) book. The art is fairly bad too.
An extraordinary book about extraordinary gentleman (and one gentlewoman) Neitherworld Book One Akiiwan (CreateSpace Version)Neitherworld Book Two Ishpiming Authors Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill have become even more fearless in their victorian reinterpretation of 19th century hero-classics, this time including H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. This volume is a little darker and the hereos are have more shades of gray - and black. This was a particularly interesting read for me, since I tried to create that same nuanced and conflicted presentation in my own two volume semi-graphic novel, Neitherworld. The League series is definitely for mature audiences - there is graphic (what else?) sex and violence, and mature themes of love and loss. The artwork is both superb and reaching. I'll have more to say about this in my review of "The Black Dossier" which takes the reformed league to even greater flights of fancy. One thing though - sometimes the authors are a little TOO in love with their world; this comes through in the text-heavy sections toward the end. I found myself skimming League leader Wilhelmina Murray's travelogue - it is 46 pages of dense single spaced test, with sparsely, albeit, well-done (as always) illustrations. The authors are dealing with a large and grand world, but do they need to include *every* myth known to mankind? Yes, this is all tied together in Black Dossier, but even for an "adept syncretist" like me (at least, according to Kikus Discoveries), it was a bit much. It was the only place in the book where I would have liked to have seen less.
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