The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 1: An Illustrated-Novel Review:

To call me unhinged would be fair, when you consider I reviewed Volume 2 first and then spent two or three days writing articles on other topics to cross my mind. So it made sense to turn around and pick up where I missed off in this series of Victorian based tales of unquestionable, steam-punk glory.

Extraordinary how no one thought to do this sort of comic or novel in the first place, and that makes this enjoyable for the novelty and originality of how he brings everything together, so that it works without a subtle impression of disjointedness to the narrative—explanations of certain character’s are explained with hints through dialogue or direct references to the original source material, making the reading experience gain a literary edge for the reader to seek out the original text to gain a better understanding to it, as to avoid the feeling of being left out of the characters background. Of course, the narrative begins with Campion Bond (a hinted ancestor of James Bond) waiting for Mine Murray (the strong female character, who began life in the pages of Bram Stoker’s: Dracula) who turns up and gives us a brief moment to gain an idea of the world the characters inhabit and a vague impression of what’s ahead.

The introduction for the characters within the comic, is cleverly done to wrap-up lose ends that refer to certain events as being facade (Captain Nemo and his fate in the Mysterious Island) or continue on from the last time we saw them (Allan Quatermain descending into opium addiction to be a mere shadow of his former self). Introduction-wise, the characters are given room to breathe in the pages they’re introduced and grow from there.

The plot is fun and introduces a few twists that do their job to surprise, while I’m less attractive to the pacing—the pacing is less defined in comparison to Volume 2 steady progression, but the plot itself makes sense with everything coming together along the way.

The artwork, I can’t fainter—simply a joy to examine for the background details and how it compares to Volume 2, it has a kind of developing feel, as though Kevin O’Neill was getting into the swing of it with the first two or three issues of the series. But, at every step from the first page to the last, the world of The League was visually stunning—everything felt fully formed, regardless of if it took two or three issues for him to enter the stride of showing off the world and characters in their steam-punk Victorian style.

Extra material comes in the form of a semi-novella that was original in six parts, but comes in one huge novella at the end. The storyline is a prequel to the events of the main comic and delves into how Allan Quatermain became the wreck of an opium addict along with a hefty cameo by the famous Time-Traveller of The Time Traveller. It’s interesting and quite exciting when we’re given brief omens of the future.

A fun filled read that pulls you into a world of fictional steam-punk fantasy and characters evolve beyond the realm of their original text to become more human. Buy the comic if you like Alan Moore, late 19th century fiction or if you want something a interesting little book.

Thought of the Day: September 13th:

Have fun when the future is concerned…..there isn’t much of one left with how everything is going.