This rather hefty book is more a novel than standard graphic novel or comic for that matter. Illustrations here are exactly that - illustrations. You do not get anything more out of them (considering the very sketch-like nature and in some situations complete inability to clearly see what is going on, e.g. scenes where police finds the bodies in dark and unlit streets).

But story, it is very good.

If you are expecting whodunit story you will be disappointed. Perpetrator is know very early. This is story of deep anxiety caused by the turn of the century (in all aspects not unlike anxiety haunting people for the last 20 years) and slow travel to madness triggered by what some people speculate might be reason for actual Jack the Ripper's rampage.

As such this is true horror story, interspersed with occult and secret societies, showing influence occult societies had even on mighty empire as UK (although should we say had in the first place? I have a feeling situation did not change at all in my opinion, people (especially powerful ones) seem to have fetishes about belonging to secret societies). Police officers frustration when encountering political obstacles while they truly work on finding the murderer is presented very clearly. And actions of what you might call "secret government" are shown as they usually are - utterly merciless when national interests are in jeopardy.

I don't understand people with critiques in terms of racial/religious context - these were late 1800's, early 1900's and unfortunately that was the thinking of people at the time (especially in terms of medicine and treatments of psychological issues). Hopefully we raised above it but to disregard past because of the way people were thinking at the time is very silly thing to do (should we eliminate integral calculus because at the time wars (almost all initially highly religious) ravaged the Europe?). All the past is base for future - without it there would be no future. We need to accept the past and rise above the bad things and improve.

Tirade aside this is very introspective and disturbing novel, journey into the very center of madness.
Beside the main story please read all the appendixes and especially short graphic story "Gull Catchers".

Excellent story, recommended to all thriller fans. ( )

I read the first 50 or so pages and then skipped to the second appendix.
I love the whole saga of Jack the Ripper and I find it fascinating. I just couldn’t get into this. I don’t know if it was the writing style, the hard to read writing itself or the illustrations, but this just wasn’t for me. I felt like it kept skipping around and once I was finally following a thought, it would switch again.

Graphic novel of a bizarre over-reaching Jack the Ripper story. Great pen and ink drawings match the novel well. ( )

Some time back I watched the movie based upon this graphic novel. It left me confused and disappointed (I could go on about unfortunate casting choices but I won’t). Since then I’ve wanted to read the graphic novel to get my footing back. Through maybe the first quarter of FROM HELL I was still confused and disappointed but then things clicked. I sunk into the atmosphere, felt a part of 1880’s London and was moved by the rhythms of poverty and power grappling in darkness. The dingy but distinct art work adds to the feel for old timey, grimy London. I have read complaints that the characters are difficult to tell apart. I did have some issues but for the most part enough clues were given to keep things straight (this can be an issue for any graphic novel not dealing with superheroes). This may have been designed to add to the anonymity of the poor as the more well off characters are much easier to distinguish. The artist Eddie Campbell also had to deal with period detail and an extensive dive into 1880’s London architecture and geography—his work highlighting a fantastic insanity laced jaunt around night time London touring the touchstones of Masonic power. In fact, this sequence is when I felt totally locked into the book. I tapped into Dr. Gull’s madness and the inevitability of it’s expression. At 3 or 4 lbs and over 500 pages it is an immersion. Moore masterfully unfolds this complicated tale of madness. There is no rush in the story, unfolding naturally, in rich mostly historical detail. The infamous murders at the heart of this story don’t come close to overshadowing the rest—and there is no rush to them or from them. Following the graphic novel there is 43 oversized addendum pages detailing where most every thoroughly researched detail in the graphic novel came from. This is so well done it’s like watching a making of documentary after a film. Moore tells you what is fact, what is interpretation and what is created to flesh out a readable tale. Fascinating. Then that is followed by a spirited gathering in graphic form of Moore and the authors of his resource materials battling the demons that arose from handling the subject matter. All marvelous stuff and a great way to wrap this story up. ( )

I had admittedly high expectations for this graphic novel, having heard so much about it over the years. I don't often pick up graphic novels because they tend to mess with my eyes, so I'm fairly picky, but I've enjoyed other horror GNs this year so much that I thought it was time to give it a try, despite the length. And yet...in the end, I'm glad to have read it, but mostly because it's so well-known and so often referenced. It's not the sort of book one 'enjoys', but even as someone who loves dark work, I found myself so overwhelmed as to be wishing I were taking the reading slower...even while knowing I'd probably not finish it if I did.

Part of my problem was a lack of character development. On one hand, it's the plot/story/society that comes across as the main character, but when there's no mystery involved in who's doing what or what's happening, that makes engagement only through plot/story a tough sell. There were also plenty of spots where the novel digressed into pages of what felt like tangents, and other parts that came off as far more misogynist than anything--even where it felt like the authors might be trying to critique society, the story was told through such a male-centered gaze that any such critique was pretty much lost via the story choices that were made.

Some little bit of character development happened late, but at least for this reader, it was too little too late. And while I could appreciate some of the story choices and art, that appreciation wasn't nearly enough to make me feel that the length was warranted. ( )