When
I first picked up the comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in
1999 little did think that I would still be buying related issues 15
years later, now I don’t know if that’s a testament to Alan
Moore’s writing or my collecting compulsion in truth its probably a little
of both. Either way 15 years on I find myself reading the latest
tale set in the Leagues universe, like the last book Nemo: Heart of
Ice this
tale centres around Janni Dakkar the daughter of Captain Nemo who now
commands the Nautilus. Things however have moved on from the last
book by around 20 years, Janni is now married to the Nautilus first hand
Jack and they now have a daughter called Hira together.
But as much as life
changes it remains the same and the Nautilus crew are still sailing
the seas plundering ships where they can. Something which has brought
them to the attention of the German high command so much so that they
bring down the airship carrying Hira and her husband Armand Robur,
who I am guessing is the son of Jean Robur (Master of the Air or
Master of the World) all of which leaves Janni and Jack no choice but
to go to the heart of the German empire on a rescue and revenge
mission. It’s a mission that brings them into contact with Fritz
Lang’s robot both skinned and un-skinned (you really need to read
it), mindless sleeping foot solders which is surely a metaphor for
solders blindly following orders and a brothel where almost anything
goes. As you would expect the rescue doesn't go quite to plan and as
I didn't expect we loose a main character along the
way, however you don't have time to dwell upon the loss as the action
flows from page to page. The story culminates with a final Kill
Bill style showdown between Janni and her seemingly immortal enemy
from an earlier book, with the final page showing exactly why Janni
is Nemo's daughter.
As with
all League books there is so much going on it takes several reads and
close scrutiny of panels to capture everything that is put in for
your enjoyment, what is a first for me were the pages of dialog
entirely in German no translations in Mr. Moore’s books to make
life easy for the reader.
The art of Kevin O’Neill is the perfect fit for this
type of story as in previous books, where Kevin does excel himself is in the great depth and
detail he puts into Berlins Metropolis style city. He also doesn’t
pull any punches in the more graphic depictions shown within the
book, and right from the start you know it’s defiantly not a book
for the younger comic reader.
At 50 odd pages long this hardback
graphic novel seems to be the perfect fit to continue on with the
world Alan Moor has created for the League and it associates, I for
one would be happy for it to remain in this format as long as we
continue to get stories as good as this.
