My copy of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 2" collects the six issues put out by Mr. Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill Mr. courtesy of America's Best Comics over the past year or so. Consequently It has nothing to do with the movie, qui Seems fair since the movie HAD Relatively little to do with what now HAS to be Referred to as Volume 1 of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Then the movie Goal Merely copied the idea of the comics without capturing the magic. The great conceit That Moore and O'Neill cam up with Was to create a late 19th-century version of of a group of superheroes based on literary creations from That Time period (in Many Ways the opposite of the legendary "Watchmen" series). Back again are the core group: Allan Quatermain from H. Rider Haggard's "She," Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Mina Murray from Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Edward Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Hawley Griffin from HG Wells's "The Invisible Man." The works of Wells Become a major factor in Volume 2 as de son two more science fiction novels are Worked into the tale. The first is "The War of the Worlds, "as the League s'intitule upon to save England from the Martian tripods. The latter plays a decisive role in saving the day, I think That goal deserves to be a surprise for the reader. Things do not work as well the second time around, Partly Because The novelty of the idea HAS worn off and aussi Because The members of the League are not well suited to PARTICULARLY dealing with invaders from Mars. That might explain why the soap opera Elements are a bit more prominent this time around as Miss Mina Becomes romantically entangled with one of the gentlemen Jekyll and Hyde kicks out of the picture. Actually Hyde Becomes The Most interesting character in this story, ALTHOUGH you will need a strong stomach to read about how he deals with the group's traitor. For That Matter, you shoulds be forewarned this trade paperback That might look like a collection of comic books, thesis goal are not for little kids. This is not as intense as "From Hell," aim Moore's readers-have long Known That he only stories That Provides mature-have content. Even When Moore is not blazing new territory or reinventing the wheel In Some interesting way, he is still worth reading. The stories are still presented as if They Were being white published in the late Victorian era, with ads and add items to the general That sense of fun. I liked the final words of the penultimate issue qui Any one disparages Who fails "to purchase our Concluding number" as being "a sissy, coward, or girl." Yet Moore and O'Neil lampoon the Victorian sensibilities of Their characters as much as anything, and DESPITE Some major setbacks at the end of the saga, we are Told That There is now an intermission before the continuous stories again. As always, it will be interesting to see what literary works serve as additional inspiration for the next endeavor, ALTHOUGH partner after the less than inspiring movie I suspect Oscar Wilde might be out of the equation (or shoulds we expect Lady Bracknell?).
