No, this isn't anything to do with that weird comedy show.
This is storytelling at its best, but then, I would expect nothing less from Alan Moore. O'Neill's artwork is sumptuous too, breathing life to the fictional, smokey, uber-steam-powered industrialist Victorian era. Tall cranes, large warehouses and crowded tenements tower over the book's heroes. But who are they? probably not as recognisable to younger readers, I myself am sad to say I have not (yet) read any of the classic literature they are taken from; there is Henry Jekyll (and Edward Hyde), Captain Nemo, the invisible man and Allan Quatermain are all gathered together by Miss Mina Murray (formerly Mina Harker). Their first real mission involves taking on the evil Fu Manchu, but just who is giving their orders, and what does he really want?
thankfully, the amazon site does not ruin the suspense. This is a recommended read for any fans of fiction. Top-notch stuff!
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Soon to be a "major motion picture", The League, I expect I'll have to check one of these out, eh? The trailer for the movie does look interesting, and I am actually familiar with Quatermain et al, which might be more interesting.
2 - jadester
not surprising, its at least done two volumes now (altho i have to rely on amazon's graphic novel listings as i am at present "out of the loop" with regard to current comics releases)
let's hope the film does it justice...
3 - Charles Crossley, Jr.
I saw "The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman" and found the movie entertaining. However, there are logical holes in the plot that spoiled it for me upon reflection, and particularly in the case of Dorian Gray, it would have been better if the screenwriters stuck with the original story of the character. In the movie, all that age, vice and violence may do to Dorian Gray is transferred to his picture, which he can never look at unless the spell is broken. Fine, but then why would Dorian Gray display this picture in his gallery where he would probably look upon it, as implied when Alan Quatermain spies its empty place on Gray's wall? Certainly after centuries of immortality, Gray would have had the picture encased in iron and sealed inside the wall of his house where no one would know where it was nor could do any harm to it. No, the original storyline by Oscar Wilde ("The Picture Of Dorian Gray") was far better. In the original story, not only could Gray look at the picture, but he often did so, obsessed with seeing how the picture changed after any vice or perversion in which he recently indulged. However, not only does anything that happens to Gray is transferred instead to the picture, but, as Gray found out in the end, anything that happens to the picture happens instead to Gray. In the case of the original storyline, he knifes the picture to destroy the final bit of evidence of a murder he committed, and so unknowingly stabs himself. The enchantment is then dispelled and his body reverts to his true age and condition while the picture returns to its original depiction of him when he was young. I strongly feel that incorporating a similar fate into the movie would have been far more entertaining than with what the moviemakers came up. Alan Quatermain being able to name the real identity of the League's nemesis is also highly questionable.
I understand the graphic novel, though, is more faithful to the original material than the movie was. Although the graphic novel does not include neither Tom Sawyer (why did the studio even want to bring him into it?) or Dorian Gray, or the true nemesis of the movie for that matter (the nemesis in the novel is Fu Manchu, of whom the studio could not obtain permission to use), the characters it does include, and its reputation of remaining true to the character while creating an interesting read appeals to me even more than what I saw in the movie. In any case, I will be going to the graphic novel itself next.
In the movie's favor, it was good seeing Captain Nemo depicted as an Indian (as in someone from India), the less-than-subtle depiction of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde as a prototype of the Hulk and Alan Quatermain as a prototype of Indiana Jones was appreciated, the psychopathic Invisible Man was well-executed (too bad they couldn't secure permission to the original character named Griffin in the H.G. Wells' novel), Mina Harker being a vampire may not have been true to the novel but was compellingly visual and produced many of the best scenes, and the Nautilus and other inventions that, during that turn of the century, were ahead of their time, were for the most part very cool. Add to that how difficult it was to bring this movie to the screen, and I'm very impressed that they got anything off the ground, let alone a decent movie.
4 - jeyanthy
The League is a superb movie....I actually took up some time browsing the internet to know all the characters in the movie...what intrigues me is the character of Dorian Gray....and Mina Murray.This movie certainly brings a new touch for classic lovers!And it has given me a new interest in classic movies and stories....especially on the handsome Dorian Gray!Very well done!
5 - elise
stuart townsend is fkin bum! :P