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Alan Moore's comic book series The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen has been a huge critical success, leading to
multiple printings and a $175 million blockbuster motion picture.
This in-depth analysis of the second volume of the graphic
novel series is packed with intriguing insights, commentary
by co-creator Kevin O'Neill, essays on the literary and historical
origins of the various members of the "League" and their creators,
and a exhaustive analysis of each panel of the story. Also
featuring a rare interview with and introduction by Moore...
Jess,
Oh Jess, you're a poor deluded person and we love you for
it. For anyone who hasn't read his first book, Heroes
& Monsters,
Jess is an obsessional person whose dedication to uncovering
every reference in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
comic books would have led any saner person to a complete
and utter breakdown. Once more for your delectation Jess has
put his life on hold and his eyesight at risk to ferret out
all the Victorian and Edwardian references in the second chapter
of that excellent series.
What
we have here is pure fan porn which will have them salivating
like a tramp menacing school girls, a book that has contains
everything that you could possibly want to know. Of course,
as it refers to specific panels in the comic, you will need
to either have these already (and if you don't hang your head
in shame) or pretend that you had amnesia for the last few
years and are just now catching up with the good stuff. Oddly
enough, it turns out that the information provided is both
entertaining and educational. I loved that Jess spent hours
staring at a particular carpet for hours on end, even holding
it up to a mirror only to be told by Kevin O'Neill that the
whole thing was just a design without meaning, now that's
dedication. However, such set backs are not enough to deter
a hero on the edge of insanity like Jess.
One
of the things that did surprise me was that the title of the
book still declares it to be an unofficial companion. If you
have not only the blessing, but also contributions from both
the writer Alan Moore and the artist Kevin O'Neill, I'm not
really sure how more official it can be and it seems a little
unfair to Jess, given the amount of hard work he's put in.
This unofficial book has an introduction by Alan Moore as
well as an interview with both Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
The
only down side to the book is that it is very much a niche
publication, without access to the comics much of the text
is interesting but out of context. Hopefully Titan will soon
be republishing the original comics so that readers can get
the best out of both books. The book gets a good mark and
a free six months in rehab for Jess, to wean him off his addiction.
 
Charles
Packer
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