New League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Book Coming
The lady and I went on a bit of an Alan Moore kick last summer, having drained every little rectanglular panel of epic goodness from Watchmen, we instantly gravitated to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I hadn't seen the supposed crapfest that was the film adaptation, but Jinny had. She assures me that the book is vastly superior, and I can assure you she is considerably bright and astute in these matters. If you've never read the series, I can't recommend it highly enough. Alan Moore takes lesser-known (and a few better-known) literary characters and creates a nerdy, turn-of-the-century version of the Justice League set in an alternative past where magic meets science, steam powers everything, Captain Nemo is a badass with a squid-submarine and Martians plot to take over the Earth. It's a hazy, dream-like opium den of a book and it's wonderful.
A new three part series is set to begin at the end of April titled The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 3 Century: 1910. Here's the upshot:
Alan Moore's familiar cast of Victorian literary characters enters the brave new world of the 20th century, set against a backdrop of London, 1910, twelve years after the failed Martian invasion. In the bowels of the British Museum, Carnacki the ghost-finder is plagued by visions of a shadowy occult order who are attempting to create something called a Moonchild, while on London's dockside the most notorious serial murderer of the previous century has returned to carry on his grisly trade. Working for Mycroft Holmes' British Intelligence alongside a rejuvenated Allan Quartermain, the reformed thief Anthony Raffles, and the eternal warrior Orlando, Miss Murray is drawn into a brutal opera acted out upon the waterfront by players that include the furiously angry Pirate Jenny and the charismatic butcher known as Mac the Knife. This book is the first of three deluxe, 80-page, full-color, perfect-bound graphic novellas, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, each a self-contained narrative that takes place in three distinct eras, building to an apocalyptic conclusion occurring in our own twenty-first century. The return of the League is not to be missed!
Alan Moore has the ability to take seemingly mundane characters from humanity's literary collective consciousness and sculpt them into remarkably engaging figures. It's no surprise he's releasing something new around the time the Watchmen movie is set to hit theaters, as I am sure his name is bound to come up at a junket or two.
You can pre-order the new book now at your local comic book shop, or online.
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