League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

The graphic novels are literally as good as the movie was bad. I can't wait for volume 3.

Needless to say the book is far more true to the actual characters than the movie was. Allan Quartermain is a hapless Opium adict. Minna is a willful woman of great mental constitution (hardened by her encounter with the being only refered to in the books as "the foreigner") but no supernatural abilities. Nemo is an embittered England-hating loner who's reduced his crew to the bare minimum (2 men: Ishmael & Broad Arrow Jack). Dr. Jekyll is unfortunately slipping away as his metabolism has addapted to no longer need the potion to change & as Hyde's evil has grown he grows greater & more powerful as Jekyll slips away (Hyde is by the by implied to have been Jack the Ripper before running off to Paris following Jekyll's suicide attempt; this fits the original book's timeline & the fact that Hyde's deeds aren't directly described). Griffin is still the invisible man & just as must the chauvinist monster as always. The mob killed an albino-experiment of his.

Dorian isn't in the books (so far), but artwork implies him to be a former member of some incarnation of the League. Tom Sawyer is never addressed & in order to avoid association with the blight of the movie Alan Moore has given a No-Sawyer-Guarantee for all future Volumes of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Also the Fantom plotline was an invention for the movie. The actual Phantom of the Opera is implied (in the Almanac in the back of Vol.2) to be a member of Les Hommes Mysterieux, the French incarnation of the League, but thats it. Minna finds him very distasteful in large part due to how... reminiscent he & his relationships are of one of her previous relationships :)

Volume 1 actually focuses on an Air War (appropriate for the era & pulp genre) being engineered by one of England's greatest crime lords to destroy his criminal rival. I'm giving spoiler warning now...





















The two criminal lords are none other than James Moriarty & Dr. Fu Manchu. The League never sees "M" until after he finishes with them, only relying through their liason Champion Bond (infact Minna assumes that "M" is Mycroft Holmes). Moriarty claims to no longer remember whether he's the head of British Intelligence masquerading as the Napolean of Crime, or the Napolean of Crime masquerading as the head of British Intelligence... & it no longer matters.

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Originally Posted by Glamourweaver

Dr. Jekyll is unfortunately slipping away as his metabolism has addapted to no longer need the potion to change & as Hyde's evil has grown he grows greater & more powerful as Jekyll slips away (Hyde is by the by implied to have been Jack the Ripper before running off to Paris following Jekyll's suicide attempt; this fits the original book's timeline & the fact that Hyde's deeds aren't directly described).
Tom Sawyer is never addressed & in order to avoid association with the blight of the movie Alan Moore has given a No-Sawyer-Guarantee for all future Volumes of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

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Cool things. Interesting character treatments, plus a no Sawyer guarantee, great. Glamourweaver, you've convinced me, I'll try to read these in the near future. Thanks. :)

hum...saw the movie, did not know that there was a book, now I must try and see it.

Eh, I haven't read the graphic novel, though I thought the movie had decent entertainment value on its own. The special effects were some of the best I've ever seen -- none of that Spider-Man-roof-jumping-scene transparency.

The books are absolutely outstanding. The amount of research and detail is dizzying and the plots are a delight. One wonders if Moore has read every single piece of Victorian-era fiction ever printed.

The movie was utter filth.

Plot, schmlot, all I wanted was some good, ol'-fashioned butt-kicking, and that's what I got. Same with AvP.

Right, but the material is ripe for something far more satisfying than simple action, and that is what the books provide.

Did you notice some of the past league members in the wall pictures? Like Natty Bummpo for instance? Holmes is noticeably absent. (Graphic Novel) Like Robin, the movie had enough butt whooping for me. Two things were very wrong:

1.) Dorian Grey: Sight of the picture would not destroy him; you had to kill the picture! Good grief! Old Oscar Wilde must be spinning in his grave!

2.) Mr. Hyde: He was supposed to be unnaturally strong, but dwarfish, smaller than the good Doctor, not a hulking giant! Do people read anymore?

Mina being a vampire was no real surprise, as Dracula has risen from the dead how many times now? His death at the end of Dracula, is supposed to set her free. But you don't kill a vampire with knives as Stoker claimed in the novel! So, the trick as explained in Quincy Morris, Vampire, would work fine. And Mina would turn since Dracula did not die...

And what’s so bad about Tom Sawyer? Ah, not a British character, of course. :nod:

I remember reading many of the Kevin O'Neill comics, but never considered myself a huge fan of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It always had very amusing twists of plot, unpredictable occurrences, but I, if reading any science-fiction as a child, I more likely found myself picking up those silly 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books. :D
Regardless, not long ago, I watched the film remake of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and felt quite impressed with it (a rare thing when switching books/comics to film). :nod:

Resented the 'drug' problem Allan Quatermain was given. In the novels Ancient Allan and Allan and Ice Gods he partakes of taduki which allows him to see visions of previous lifes he's lived--ancieint Egypt and cave man settings. He does admit to a great temptation in the use of it. I also found Quaterman to be protrayed as very unleaderlike and indecisive. Quatermain is a retiring sort of personality but comes thru as needed just does not like to toot his own horn.

His sex scenes with Mina in the second series put me off to the comics. As usual kudos to Moore's talents--not in agreement with some of the treatment. Loved his 'Devil Doctor' (Fu Manchu) and Moriarty however.

Yes mtrspur has a Quatermain fixation. Never quite forgave Richard Chamberlain for those dreddful movies. Great in Shogun though.