Part the Twenty-First: Part the Twenty-First: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen OR: The Justice League of Queen Victoria
Alan Moore is one of those writers who consistently produces thoughtful, entertaining, original work. Unfortunately, this work is usually adapted in the worst way possible by movie studios hoping to cash in on the success of his graphic novels. This, in turn, keeps a great many people from ever exploring the truly outstanding source material, much to their intellectual detriment. Today, I’d like to do my own small part to counter-act this effect, and help generate some interest in the works of Moore.
So let’s talk about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The concept itself is strikingly brilliant: near the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the British government recruits a variety of “extraordinary” individuals to serve as an all-purpose special operations team. The roster is composed of major characters from British literature of the period, including the Invisible Man, Mina Murray (formerly Mina Harker, wife of Jonathan Harker of Dracula fame), Allan Quartermain, Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde, and Captain Nemo. Together, they battle against such nefarious figures as Fu Manchu, Professor James Moriarty (“the Napoleon of Crime”), and even invaders from Mars.
The cast (and even minor characters) are a “who’s who” of 19th century literature. In one scene featuring a bunch of young pickpockets, the urchins turn over their earnings to an elderly fellow named “Mr. Dodger,” who comes up with an “artful solution” to an impending moment of danger. Other cameos include a flashback to the death of Sherlock Holmes, an encounter with Dr. Moreau (who is developing biological weapons), a short murder investigation that is aided by French detective C. Auguste Dupin (protagonist of Poe’s “the Purloined Letter” and “Murders in the Rue Morgue”), and even John Carter of Mars. Moore weaves in dozens of subtle references to such characters and their stories, making each volume a treasure trove that rewards attentive readers (my personal favorite is a framed portrait of a previous version of the League, including the Scarlet Pimpernel, Fanny Hill, Natty Bumpo, and Lemuel Gulliver).
Of course, these allusions won’t hold any value for those not familiar with 19th century literature, but they can serve as a wonderful introduction to the richness of the stories that were being written in that period (especially the works of H.G. Wells). I myself was unfamiliar with Allan Quartermain before encountering the series, and I hope to get a chance sometime this summer to dig in to the source material more deeply.
This series has also been an important part of the Neo-Victorian and Steampunk movements that have been gaining steam (I couldn’t resist) in recent years. Moore’s take on Captain Nemo, for example, is that he is a “science pirate” who develops a variety of ingenious technologies to aid him in his domination of the seas in the ever-impressive Nautilus. Indeed, there’s a strong science fiction element to the stories, including everything from airships to alien invaders. The gritty, “dark side of England” that is often explored in Neo-Victorian fiction is also on full display in Moore’s work, which features more than a few gruesome deaths and a fair number of “adult” encounters. The protagonists each have their own dark history, and their “goodness” is often a relative measure against the forces they battle against – a common feature in contemporary film and literature, and an interesting complication to figures from the fictional past.
The less said about the 2003 film, the better – I recall arguing with a friend about whether or not it was the worst movie of the summer, in fact. Suffering from an overly large cast and underwhelming script, the film completely failed to capture the tone of the series or the nature of the characters, transforming a thoughtful, richly-layered narrative into just another Michael Bay-esque mindless action adventure. Though the addition of (and concept for) Dorian Gray was fairly clever, the pointless addition of (and subsequent focus on) Tom Sawyer to the team caused more than enough damage to offset such an innovation.
I firmly recommend Volume I, though Volume II is even richer in its complexity and includes a truly enormous appendix at the end to help flesh out the fantastic world in which the League lives and operates. I haven’t read the Black Dossier or the thus-far-published portions of Volume III yet, but based upon what I’ve seen already, I’m more than willing to vouch for their quality and entertainment value.
What about you, readers? Any other Alan Moore fans out there? Fans of Victorian (or Neo-Victorian) literature? Let’s hear!
