XIX century. Miss Murray is charged with a responsible mission: to find extraordinary personalities and unite them into a unique team that will serve the British Empire. The detachment is joined by Captain Nemo, the traveler Quatermain, who turns into a bloodthirsty monster, Dr. Jekyll, and the Invisible Man.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Volume I
Genre: steampunk
Screenwriter Story by: Alan Moore
Artist Story by: Kevin O'Neill
Original Output: 1999
publishing house: AST, 2016
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the third most recognizable work of the outstanding comic book writer Alan Moore (after the iconic Watchmen and V for Vendetta, of course). The fame of the series was added by the film adaptation, released in 2003, with the magnificent Sean Connery in leading role. But the fate of the film turned out to be sad - it received devastating reviews from both critics and fans of the original source, and the sequel was given up.
The comic book series has lasted considerably longer, with several story arcs released to date. And finally, Russian readers had the opportunity to get acquainted with the first of them.
In "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" Moore in Once again demonstrates an original approach to superheroics. This time he presented a steampunk version of The Avengers and the Justice League. Literary characters unite in a team similar to a superhero late XIX and the early 20th century, from the vampire Mina Harker (from Bram Stoker's Dracula) to the aging adventurer Allan Quatermain (from the Rider Haggard novels).
In addition, Moore made bold experiments with the narrative format. He filed the comic as a teen magazine from the turn of the last century and entrusted its design to artist Kevin O'Neill, who has a very peculiar style of drawing.
The graphic style of the "League" leaves few people indifferent. Some call it the main advantage of the series, others consider it a disadvantage. The basis of O'Neill's drawing is a subtle stroke, which gives the picture an atmosphere of madness and chaos. The comic looks archaic, which, on the one hand, corresponds to the retro style, and on the other hand, it gives the impression of amateur work. But that's exactly what Moore wanted: to create a vintage and slightly trashy graphic novel for the experienced adult reader, unlike anything else. And he did an excellent job with this task.
The first volume is devoted to the formation of the League and the development of heroes in isolation from the original sources. It is very curious to follow the events - Moore superbly prescribes dialogues, plays the characters in an original way and creates a lot of funny situations. But at some point he gets so carried away working on vivid images, which, as often happens in superheroics, pushes the main intrigue and the main villain into the background. The climax of the comic comes out inexpressive, and this is its only significant drawback. After all, you always expect something more from the incredibly creative Moore.
In addition to the main graphic story, in the first arc there is a story "Allan and the torn veil" - and now you can not read it. Here, Moore directly and uninventively copies the style of the founders of gothic horror.
Localizing The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a difficult task, and one that the publisher has done well. The translator and editor managed to maintain the author's style, and the layout designer managed to russify numerous inscriptions. The only drawback is that often the text is typed in a small ornate font, and it is difficult to read.
Outcome: A graphic novel classic that looks like a trashy adventure novel, but is aimed at the experienced adult reader. Not best volume in the series, but great gift for fans of unusual author's comics.
XIX century. Miss Murray is charged with a responsible mission: to find extraordinary personalities and unite them into a unique team that will serve the British Empire. The detachment is joined by Captain Nemo, the traveler Quatermain, who turns into a bloodthirsty monster, Dr. Jekyll, and the Invisible Man.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Volume I
Genre: steampunk
Screenwriter Story by: Alan Moore
Artist Story by: Kevin O'Neill
Original Output: 1999
publishing house: AST, 2016
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the third most recognizable work of the outstanding comic book writer Alan Moore (after the iconic Watchmen and V for Vendetta, of course). The film adaptation, released in 2003, with the magnificent Sean Connery in the title role, added to the fame of the series. But the fate of the film turned out to be sad - it received devastating reviews from both critics and fans of the original source, and the sequel was given up.
The comic book series has lasted considerably longer, with several story arcs released to date. And finally, Russian readers had the opportunity to get acquainted with the first of them.
In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore once again demonstrates an original approach to superheroics. This time he presented a steampunk version of The Avengers and the Justice League. The superhero-like team brings together characters from late 19th and early 20th century literature, from the vampire Mina Harker (from Bram Stoker's Dracula) to the aging adventurer Allan Quatermain (from Rider Haggard's novels).
In addition, Moore made bold experiments with the narrative format. He filed the comic as a teen magazine from the turn of the last century and entrusted its design to artist Kevin O'Neill, who has a very peculiar style of drawing.
The graphic style of the "League" leaves few people indifferent. Some call it the main advantage of the series, others consider it a disadvantage. The basis of O'Neill's drawing is a subtle stroke, which gives the picture an atmosphere of madness and chaos. The comic looks archaic, which, on the one hand, corresponds to the retro style, and on the other hand, it gives the impression of amateur work. But that's exactly what Moore wanted: to create a vintage and slightly trashy graphic novel for the experienced adult reader, unlike anything else. And he did an excellent job with this task.
The first volume is devoted to the formation of the League and the development of heroes in isolation from the original sources. It is very curious to follow the events - Moore superbly prescribes dialogues, plays the characters in an original way and creates a lot of funny situations. But at some point, he is so keen on working on vivid images that, as often happens in superheroics, he pushes the main intrigue and the main villain into the background. The climax of the comic comes out inexpressive, and this is its only significant drawback. After all, you always expect something more from the incredibly creative Moore.
In addition to the main graphic story, in the first arc there is a story "Allan and the torn veil" - and now you can not read it. Here, Moore directly and uninventively copies the style of the founders of gothic horror.
Localizing The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a difficult task, and one that the publisher has done well. The translator and editor managed to maintain the author's style, and the layout designer managed to russify numerous inscriptions. The only drawback is that often the text is typed in a small ornate font, and it is difficult to read.
Outcome: A graphic novel classic that looks like a trashy adventure novel, but is aimed at the experienced adult reader. Not the best volume in the series, but a great gift for fans of unusual author's comics.
Despite the fact that Moore has always been against film adaptations of his work, many of his comics have been filmed - among them From Hell, V for Vendetta, Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. ABOUT latest novel and will be discussed in our today's review. So, gentlemen, make yourself comfortable, we begin.
If you've watched the film adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and were held back from buying the comic by a premonition that you'd be wasting your time re-reading what you've already seen on the screen, I hasten to convince you - these are completely different things.
The comic takes place in Victorian England on turn of XIX and XX centuries. From the first pages, the author introduces the reader to the main characters, who, although they try to seem mysterious, in fact turn out to be characters familiar to the reader for a long time. fiction end of the 19th century.
The story begins with the fact that a certain Campion Bond, on the orders of his mentor, the mysterious "M", gathers a group for his "circus" extraordinary personalities, consisting of: the legendary traveler-turned-opium addict Allan Quatermain, the pirate scientist Captain Nemo, the invisible Howley Griffin, and the one and only Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Against the background of these outstanding gentlemen, only the figure of the school teacher Wilhelmina Murray seems slightly out of place. However, a recent divorce and an eternal scarf around her neck put everything in its place - Mina is not here by chance either. Together, the heroes form the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", called upon to protect the empire from a mysterious villain who threatens not only the fate of England, but the whole world.
The fast-paced action of the comic is literally permeated with references to the cult works of British literature of the late 19th century. In addition to a fascinating story, the author rewards the smart reader with an incomparable feeling, each time exposing a familiar hero in the comic book pages. literary character- a feeling akin to searching for "Easter eggs" and references to your favorite books.
One gets the impression that the heroes of such legendary works as Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines and countless others suddenly left the pages of literary masterpieces and went to London in 1898 to plunge the reader headlong into a delightful adventure full of sudden plot twists and humor of the inimitable Alan Moore.
The book lacks both action and intrigue with the element detective investigation, after all, given that we are in London end 19th century, there is no way to do without the famous detective.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic is illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, whose drawing style really oozes late '90s comic book style - those angular lines, vivid emotions on the faces of the characters, fanatical attention to detail and limited color palette bring even more mystery and mysticism to the general atmosphere. After reading the book, it becomes difficult to imagine the work of any other artist in place of O'Neill's drawing.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a cult graphic novel that has firmly taken its place in the history of comics, the very case when the film adaptation cannot stand any comparison with the original. In Russian, the series is published by the AST publishing house, the first volume is already on sale - hardcover, 200 pages. We recommend this fascinating journey through space and time to every true gentleman. May the bloodthirsty Morlocks not overtake you!
Our days
Allan Quartermain
Hawley Griffin
Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde
Captain Nemo
Orlando
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (English) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ) is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, which began publication in 1999. The series spans two six-volume series, a graphic novel from America's Best Comics published by Wildstorm /, and a third mini-series published by Top Shelf and Knockabout Comics. According to Moore, the concept for the series was originally " Justice League Victorian England", but quickly grew into an opportunity to combine several works of art in one world.
Moore and O'Neill have said they plan to chart different eras in League with Allan Quatermain and Mina Murray as recurring characters. Based on the first volume, a film was created, released in 2003.
Plot
Volume I
Main article: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume I
Following the events of Dracula, the now disgraced and divorced Mina Harker (née Murray) is recruited by Campion Bond on behalf of British Intelligence and tasked with assembling a team of other extraordinary individuals to protect the empire's interests. Along with Captain Nemo, Mina travels to Cairo to find Allan Quatermain, then to Paris to search for Doctor Jekyll, and finally to London, where she forcibly recruits Hawley Griffin, the invisible man who completes the incarnation of the League. After meeting with Professor Cavor, the League travels to the lair of Fu Manchu, who has stolen the only known instance of cavorite, the substance with which he planned to create a military airship and threaten Britain with it. In the end, having received the cavorite, the League passes it into the hands of its employer - none other than Professor Moriarty, who planned to use it on his airship, from which he would bomb the enemy's lair in Limehouse, most London and the League with him. A dogfight breaks out over London and the League is ultimately victorious. Mycroft Holmes takes Moriarty's place as the League's employer, and distinguished gentlemen are tasked to remain in the service of the Crown while awaiting England's challenge.
Volume II
Main article: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume II
Set during the events of HG Wells' The War of the Worlds, Volume II begins on Mars, where John Carter and Lieutenant Gulliver Jones (Edward Arnold, "Gulliver on Mars") have formed an alliance to fight the Martian invaders. When the invaders are forced to leave Mars and land on Earth, they start building tripods. Griffin leaves the League under cover of invisibility to forge an alliance with the invaders, but before openly betraying them, he steals plans for the defense of London, also physically and emotionally attacking Mina.
Mycroft Holmes sends Nemo and Hyde to protect the capital by patrolling the rivers of London in the Nautilus. Meanwhile, Mina and Quatermain meet Dr. Moreau in his forest hideout and tell him that MI5 is asking about something known as H-142. Hyde returns to the museum and tortures Griffin by breaking his leg and raping him before killing him. Hyde dies fighting the tripod, allowing MI5 to launch the H-142. However, before he dies, he asks Mina for two things: to kiss her and touch her breasts.
MI5 launches H-142: a hybrid bacterium composed of anthrax and streptococcus. Nemo is infuriated by the H-142, and Bond's tepid response that they will claim that, officially, the Martians died of a cold. Angered by the British government's callous use of bioweapons, Nemo leaves in the Nautilus and tells Quatermain and Murray to "never look for [him] again", mistakenly believing they knew the details of the British plan.
Characters
- Mina Murray - a woman bitten by Dracula, is considered the head of the League. After the events of the novel Dracula, many gossiped about her connection with a cruel vampire. She is hired by Campion Bond for a task of national importance - to save the empire, for which it is necessary to gather people with outstanding abilities. Due to the lack of proper quality of leadership and responsibility of the team, it immediately becomes the main one. As events progress, he falls in love with Quatermain.
- Allan Quatermain is an aging hunter and adventurer, now a lonely old man addicted to opium. Grouchy, dissatisfied with Mina's position in the League, but obeying her in everything. He is a master shooter. He and Mina are the only ones who remain in the League after it breaks up.
- Captain Nemo is an old pirate, for a long time presumed dead after the events of The Mysterious Island. Gloomy, intolerant of the earth, faithfully devoted to his ship, hates the Empire. The only reason he is in the League is the promise of the British to liberate India, but after the events of the second volume, he is forever disappointed in people and leaves on the Nautilus away.
- Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde is a professor suffering from a split personality. Eternally gloomy, thin, but very noble. His second personality is Edward Hyde, a violent maniac who kills prostitutes in London. It is he who rapes Griffin in the second volume. Dies during the battle with the tripod.
- Hawley Griffin is a scientist who invented a way to become invisible. After the events of the novel "The Invisible Man", he hid for a long time in a boarding house, where he raped young girls, which is why many considered him the "Holy Spirit" and became pregnant from him. First helping the League, then betraying them to the Martian invaders and stealing London's plans. He is tortured and raped by Hyde, who has learned of the betrayal.
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