League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

            I was pretty skeptical picking up the first volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, mostly due to my dislike for the movie and initial uneasiness of reading through more of Alan Moore’s work after Watchmen.  However, I found the concept of throwing multiple fictional characters into one world interesting, and so had a look.

            To really, truly enjoy work like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the reader should really be well versed in a variety of literature and figureheads, from classics like Dracula to more questionable books like those featuring the character of Fu Manchu.  You’ll have characters like the Invisible Man (who is wonderfully depraved in this particular depiction), Mina Harker from Dracula, Professor Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde running around, but then minor characters from works by Edgar Allen Poe or even Victorian erotica will pop up; unless the reader is familiar with each subject, then the references could go over their head (as they did mine, unfortunately).  Despite not getting all of the references, however, I still really enjoyed it as a crossover (Although the little, ahem, scene between Harker and Quartermain threw me off a bit.  Blech), but given most of the negative depictions of the characters I found it hard to enjoy as a whole.  Like the concept.  Don't like the execution (especially the design of some of the characters...Hyde, as featured below, frequently looks like a burned gorilla).

            Although this was a DC publication, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between Marvel’s The Avengers and Marvel 1602 (despite the difference of two, almost three centuries); the idea behind it is basically assembling a superhuman team during a non-modern period.  While not specifically done in Marvel 1602, I can’t help but wonder if the graphic novel was at least partially inspired by League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – and if that is the case, what would have it been like if actual DC characters had been used instead of the featured literary characters.

Hyde, much like the different incarnations of the Hulk, shows how he is simultaneously the most entertaining and most terrifying character featured in League.  As Griffin finds out here.