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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

created by Jet-Poop

(thing) by Jet-Poop (3.4 hr) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Sat Nov 13 1999 at 9:56:35

A comic book publication released in the Year of Our Lord 2000 detailing the exciting and enlightening adventures of a group of note-worthy citizens of the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria. Written by the hirsute Alan Moore, capably illustrated by the dastardly Kevin O'Neill and published by the suspiciously-colonial America's Best Comics, the story concerns the exploits of the independent Miss Mina Murray, the gallant Mr. Allan Quatermain, the Hindu pirate Captain Nemo (with the Nautilus, his amazing sub-marine ship), the invisible Mr. Hawley Griffin, and the meek Dr. Henry Jekyll (along with his compatriot the beastly Edward Hyde) against the menace of the heathen Dr. Fu Manchu and the devious crimelord James Moriarty. The second volume of the series follows the League as they battle against uncivilized hordes of invaders from the planet Mars!

As their adventures progress, our noble heroes encounter many notables of the day, including Monsieur Auguste Dupin, Miss Rosa Coote, Miss Olive Chancellor, Miss Rebecca Randall, Miss Pollyanna Whittier, Professor Selwyn Cavor, Mr. Ishmael, Mr. A. Dodger, Mr. Mycroft Holmes, Dr. Alphonse Moreau, and many others.

(thing) by atesh (1.5 mon) (print)   ?   4 C!s I like it! Mon Aug 27 2001 at 4:34:05

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. The conception of the comic is that all of Victorian's literary characters coexsisted in our world and presents this world in 1898. Sherlock Holmes was once the greatest detective, strange experiements that shocked the public come upon the world, and mystical creatures roam it.

Campion Bond is a secretive fellow who works for a mysterious M. This M fellow is collecting different people in the world together under the banner of the British Empire. The first one collected and undeclared leader of this League of Extraordinary Gentleman (and one woman) is Wilhelmina Murray. Her past is rather murky, other than the facts that she is recently divorced and returned to her maiden name. She is also mentioned as being ravaged by some foreigner. Even among these other strange chaps she can hold her own.
Wilhelmina Murray: Preferable, surely, to Quatermain the opium-sot? I have, you may believe me, met with many deplorable specimens of humanity, but you...
Allen Quatermain, the great British explorer, is found by Ms. Murray in an opium den in Cairo. Washed up and heavily addicted to opium, Quatermain doesn't seem that useful at the time. He quickly breaks his addiction and tries to live up to the history books that list his many adventures.
Allen Quatermain: Madame, that's enough! I pray God that all Englishwomen are not now of your manly ilk...
Captain Nemo, captain of the Nautilus, has also been recruited by Ms. Murray. His reasons for "defending the Empire" are less defined. Perhaps, it is an agreement that his faked death on the Mysterious Island shall not be revealed. But in any case, Nemo is a strong force to have on their side.
Captain Nemo: Bond believes we are his pawns. He thinks no-one observes his game. But I am no-one. I observe everything... and to play with Nemo is to play games with destruction.
When the group returns to Britain with Quatermain in hand, Campion is quick to send them after another chase. This time in France, they meet with a retired detective by the name of Auguste Dupin. Apparently, a murder case on the Rue Morgue, that was thought solved, have returned. They find that no normal beast or human is causing these new murders, but some sort of changeling. A Dr. Henry Jekyll who had created a potion that had seperated his evil side, Mr. Edward Hyde, from his own personality. Unfortunatly, they are still stuck in the same body and Hyde no longer requires the potion to come out. The government works hard on trying to get Hyde to work for them, while Jekyll with his impeccable morals joins almost immediatly.
Mr. Edward Hyde: A CURE? You'll cure me, will you, like a wart on Jekyll's arse? Why, you self-important TURD! Unfasten these confouded straps. I'll snap your neck in TWO!
Campion sends them on yet another mystery. A series of girls at the Miss Rosa Coote's Correctional Academy for Wayward Gentlewomen have been mysteriously been becoming pregnant. On the night that Murray, Quatermain, and Nemo stay there, this "holy spirit" appears having rather carnal affairs with one of the girls. They quickly discover that it is some sort of invisible man. Dr. Hawley Griffin, who faked his own death, is eager to join the group in order for a pardon and perhaps a cure for his condition.
Dr. Hawley Griffin: "Oh heavens! He's harmed a poor policeman!" Well, forgive me. I'd rather thought we were a covert military unit, but it seems we are instead a knitting circle!
After gathering this amazing group, Bond gives them their first true mission. Their mission is to retrieve the cavorite, an anti-gravity material, from an Oriental man known only as "The Doctor." But there seems more in store for them than just a simple retrievel, a force long thought gone.
As of August 2002, the second volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has begun. In this new saga, our adventurers are moving into the league of the extraterriestial as aliens from Mars crash in England.

(thing) by Servo5678 (1.6 y) (print)   ?   1 C! I like it! Sun Jul 13 2003 at 4:52:03

"So then... the game is on."
- Allan Quatermain, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Director Stephen Norrington brought the 2003 film adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (or LXG as the marketing department calls it) to the screen, assembling a cast of extraordinary talent to play extraordinary characters. All the greats are there: Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Tom Sawyer, Mina Harker, Dr. Henry Jekyll (and his buddy Edward Hyde), Dorian Gray, and The Invisible Man. They are called into action to prevent a mysterious figure from sparking a world war... and they only have four days to stop him. After the film assembles the League and clues us in to each character's... special circumstances... the game, as they say, is on. Captain Nemo calls for some undersea transportation (the Submarine of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and off they go into the night. You'll see a lot of the night in this film as most of the action takes place in the dark.

While the storyline is quite engaging, the main draw of this film is the special effects. There's undersea explosions, stunt driving, exotic locales, shooting stunts, invisible people, a bloodsucking babe made of bats, and a Victorian Incredible Hulk. The camera has a habit of rushing through streets and tunnels to get to the next action scene on time, and I actually found myself fighting motion sickness during parts of the film. While the plot takes place in the summer of 1899, there are a lot of modern influences in the picture, from "futuristic" weapons to the concept of a superpowered team of heroes (I saw the film with NinjaPenguin* and she proclaimed the League a "British X-Men"). I dare not reveal the many twists and turns that the plot takes, so I advise you to see the movie for yourself and take it all in. You'll have an extraordinary time.

* I also dared her to go to the snack bar and order "The Soda of Extraordinary Gentlemen". She balked.

printable version
chaos

Casting the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen today Things you learn when a woman moves into your flat Allan Quatermain Dorian Gray
Fu Manchu Truman announces Hiroshima atomic bombing Captain Nemo Mycroft Holmes
Alan Moore Over-educated Supervillains Wold Newton Universe The League of Gentlemen
Shut down Napster, not Metallica The Picture of Dorian Gray cavorite steampunk
Tom Sawyer Dorian Gray Complex Mysterious Island Doc Savage
Hirsute Nautilus Jonathan Harker The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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