The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 2

I really was not expecting much after volume 1, but I already had it at home so I wondered if it might improve.

I was wrong. There are brief neat moments. My favorite takes place when Nemo comments that he is prepared to destroy a bridge full of civilians to trap the aliens and protect the greater good, and Hyde taunts him into saying that it's no great strategic loss if he must do so, anyway. Nemo says, "Besides, they're only-" and Hyde says, "Human?" And Nemo finishes, "English". Nemo is the subject of various racist slurs throughout both novels and this was a good moment of him responding back to that without a damn. Yeah, they hate him. He hates them right back, although he still willingly protects them at various points because he's show more a better person in many ways. I also liked that there were moments of teamwork and at least Nemo, Allan and Hyde care about Mina's well-being by this novel.

Mina loses what little control she had over the group in the novel. Sure, she can still lead Allan around, especially since he's head over heels for her, and she still fascinates Hyde, but no one else respects her and she serves more as a spectator and messenger than anything else here. Her 'romance' with Allan was one of the dumbest I've seen in a while. The only redeeming quality was how Allan reassured her over her scars. Her parting with Hyde is creepy, at best. "May I touch your breast?" Well at least it's a straightforward last request.

There's a bad place reserved in the afterlife for rapists and attempted rapists. There's a worse place for people who think rape is a proper form of revenge, especially for rape. I don't know if Moore wants us to sympathize with the Invisible Man (and I don't) or cheer Hyde's butt-raping and otherwise torturing him to death in revenge for Mina, or just feel conflicted on who should receive worse punishment. But like Nemo said, Hyde teaches terror. He's there for nothing else.

Nemo was again the most interesting character, even more so than Mina. I wish we had more of his story.

The art is still pretty awful. Mina is treated like crap. Tons and tons of men doing stuff and the one woman is a weak little flower. There's animal cruelty and aliens invade London and somehow Moore made me not even care. I don't question what makes a hero after reading this. I question what Moore wanted: did someone want him to make a heroic group of these people and Moore then went about demonstrating just how STUPID an idea that is or did he want to see if he could sell this group of unlikeable people as heroes, like Stan Lee did with Tony Stark? Whatever the case, again: if you romanticize Victorian lit, read this and bring yourself back to reality. If you don't, watch the film. It's still shockingly better. show less

Just like its predecessor, volume 2 has an interesting premise that's executed quite well. This time around, the characters interact far more easily and they are explored more thoroughly in terms of their personalities and motivations.

I especially loved the way Hyde was used to do a certain *something* that I was absolutely rooting for. All the other characters were written well, too, though I felt Nemo was brushed aside for the others this time.

All in all, it's a great book with a good story, brilliant art, and a lot of supplementary material. It was a good - if not great - read!

Moore duplicates, elaborates, and produces what, depending on my mood, I consider his best work (yeah, maybe better than Watchmen. This has all the easter-egg fun and plain superheroics of the first League, and also going for it, the pleasure of seeing the characters get a history together and mean as much because of their League exploits as much as their first appearances (now mere origin stories); the horror of the first alien landing and the burning babies, which is undiminished (less thorough, more visceral) than in Wells' book (although admittedly less disco than in the Jeff Wayne musical version); and a host of just ass-kicking moments that bring it alive in a way that never really happened with the first, which always felt like show more an equation, a bloodless exercise on the best premise in literary history. This one has blood, though, in spades. Wait till you see whose. show less

Alan Moore aveva concepito la Lega degli Straordinari Gentlemen come una specie di Justice League vittoriana, prima di litigare con DC. I suoi supereroi sono quindi quelli della fine dell'Ottocento, e anche la storia di questo secondo volume è un misto tra La guerra dei mondi e L'isola del dottor Moreau (secondo me con un teaser iniziale di John Carter di Marte). Ciò detto, dopo un inizio un po' fiacco la storia procede bene, anche se forse ci sarebbe voluto un formato più grande per le tavole. Ma la parte che più mi ha divertito è l'appendice (tradotta da Leonardo Ricci, mentre il fumetto è stato tradotto da Michele Foschini) con un racconto dei vari luoghi e popoli misteriosi del mondo: un tour de force che va da quanto show more raccontato nella scespiriana Tempesta ad Alice nel paese delle meraviglie (pardon, A.L.: i riferimenti nel testo sono spesso volutamente ellittici, e mi sa che ne ho persi molti. Fortuna che Wikipedia ha una voce al riguardo!) con strizzate d'occhio a tutta la letteratura fantastica. In California si parla della Volpe, in Florida abbiamo la palude di Pogo, e il Capitano Nemo afferma di aver sentito parlare di un altro sottomarino colorato vistosamente e guidato da un certo sergente Pepper... show less

Like Promethea, LXG is a great graphic novel by Alan Moore. This particular volume is a fun take on the classic HG Wells novel about the Martians, as well as the Island of Dr. Moreau. Like Bill Willingham's 'Fables' series, this series pulls out obscure characters - this time from books, not fairy tales - and some of the references are so subtle and clever you can't help but love them (if you recognize them).

I rather liked Jekyll/Hyde in this installment, though I wish Mina could have been a more powerful/stronger character, since she didn't seem to have any particular powers. I can't say that this volume was as good as the first, but it was still good. The bonus features in the back of this volume are a real treat! A solid 4/5 stars.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. After the discovering that 'M', the head of British Military Intelligence, for whom they worked, was actually Dr. Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime, and disposing of him, the League may believe that their employers are now on the up and up. But when 'The War of the Worlds' begins with an invasion from Mars, the League is sent to contact another MI asset - Doctor Moreau, who has been hidden away in the 'Wild Woods' (from Wind in the Willows) by MI and collect one of his 'experiments' for use against the alien tripods. The use of this experimental hybrid to stop the Tripods who have amassed in London, despite the presence of thousands of civilians shows that for MI (under its new leader, Mycroft show more Holmes - Sherlock's elder brother), the ends always justifies the means. Highly entertaining stuff, though I have to say it is not for the faint of heart with a quotient of sex and violence that would probably give Richard Morgan a run for his money. This is Edwardian Boys' Own Adventures updated for the new millennium. show less

‘La Liga de los Caballeros Extraordinarios, Volumen 2’ (The League of the Extraordinary Gentleman, Vol. 2 #1-6, 2002), de Alan Moore y Kevin O’Neill’, continúa donde se quedó el primer volumen, es decir, con un extraño objeto en forma de bala cayendo desde el espacio. Como era de prever, la Tierra, en concreto Inglaterra, está siendo invadida por Marte y sus artilugios de tres patas. De nuevo, el variopinto grupo comandado por Mina Murray, tendrá que hacer frente a la amenaza.

Aventuras, comedia, traición, amor, sacrificio, son los ingredientes que nos ofrece este segundo volumen de la Liga, que si bien me ha entretenido, encuentro que va de más a menos.