2010 Book 5: Heroes & Monsters
Book 5: Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Jess Nevins, isbn 9781932265040, 240 pages, MonkeyBrain Books, $15.99
Jess Nevins is an amazing researcher. I first came across his work as part of the collective that writes essays building on the Wold-Newton Family / Universe concept of Philip Jose Farmer, and was impressed. I'd love to someday own a copy of his Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, but used copies of that sell in the $200 range.
This is the first of Jess' companion volumes to the wonderful "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" series of comic book mini-series / collected graphic novel editions by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. I reviewed the second volume in the series (The Blazing World) towards the end of 2009.
In addition to annotating almost every panel of the first League storyline (no mean feat, that), Jess provides several essays on how many of the League members are archtypes, how the concept of the "yellow peril" changed throughout the 20th century (tracable through the history of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu) and how the concept of the "character crossover event" has mutated throughout its history. I posted some thoughts on those essays over in the 365shortstories community. Moore and O'Neill provide interviews, introductions, and even some notes on Nevins' comments (correcting or adding to notations). Moore has even said that knowing Jess Nevins is annotating the work inspires the creators to see if they can stump him; high praise indeed.
While it is best to read this volume side-by-side with the book it provides annotations for, anyone really familiar with the first League story can skim this for a reminder, or use it to answer those pesky "was that really Weary Willy in the background" type questions.
I'm glad Jess Nevins is out there annotating the League series as they happen!
Jess Nevins is an amazing researcher. I first came across his work as part of the collective that writes essays building on the Wold-Newton Family / Universe concept of Philip Jose Farmer, and was impressed. I'd love to someday own a copy of his Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, but used copies of that sell in the $200 range.
This is the first of Jess' companion volumes to the wonderful "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" series of comic book mini-series / collected graphic novel editions by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. I reviewed the second volume in the series (The Blazing World) towards the end of 2009.
In addition to annotating almost every panel of the first League storyline (no mean feat, that), Jess provides several essays on how many of the League members are archtypes, how the concept of the "yellow peril" changed throughout the 20th century (tracable through the history of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu) and how the concept of the "character crossover event" has mutated throughout its history. I posted some thoughts on those essays over in the 365shortstories community. Moore and O'Neill provide interviews, introductions, and even some notes on Nevins' comments (correcting or adding to notations). Moore has even said that knowing Jess Nevins is annotating the work inspires the creators to see if they can stump him; high praise indeed.
While it is best to read this volume side-by-side with the book it provides annotations for, anyone really familiar with the first League story can skim this for a reminder, or use it to answer those pesky "was that really Weary Willy in the background" type questions.
I'm glad Jess Nevins is out there annotating the League series as they happen!