"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is a pathetically made movie. So much so that I would really not have considered buying this book had it not been my blind trust in Moore's storytelling skills. I had read another Moore in the interim - "Lost Girls" which he and the co-artist, Melinda Gebbie, describe as a work of "pornography". Other than the obvious delights that the controversial book held, it showed a remarkable ability of Moore. That of perverting a well known stories and presenting them in a radically new light. Tracing back, it was the same with "From Hell" and "Batman : The Killing Joke". And it certainly was the same with "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". You meet well known characters from stories unrelated. Dr. Jekyll, Edward Hyde, the Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, Professor Moriarty, even Well's time traveller! All twisted and mixed into a concoction that serves to entertain. O'Neill impresses with his psychedelic art. It is hallucinatory and slightly dark. The consistence of detailing is very impressive.
The story starts with Mina Murray being recruited by Campion Bond in the name of a certain Mr. M to form a menagerie of adventurers to help the British empire against its enemies. Miss Murray hunts down the opium addicted aging adventurer Allan Quatermain with the help of the supposedly deceased Sikh pirate Captain Nemo and the three go on to capture Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde from Paris, and Hawley Griffin (The Invisible Man) from Edmonton, London. The collection complete, they set out to thwart the oriental Doctor's plans to dominate the Empire and the world. But that is certainly not the end of their adventures!
I did get what I was looking for : some light entertainment, however, Moore did not impress me as much as he had done in the previous works, though the art was amazing, probably the best after "Batman : A Killing Joke". I think the plot was looser and lacking in a theme as compared to the likes of "V for Vendetta" and "The Watchmen". But then this is just the first volume. Who knows whether the future volumes will hold me just as mesmerised. And I just have to commend these guys make the graphic novel. It is so much more than a simple comic book. There is commentary, extra notes, side stories, etc. that offer a variety of entertainment to the reader. I was comparing it with the recent rising graphic novel scene in India - Ramayana, 18 Days, Devi, etc. There is much lacking in terms of story-telling here.
