A new volume of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” comic opus is always cause for celebration and this month’s release of “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Century: 1910″ will be no exception. For me, though, it also means another dip into the rich literary pool that Moore himself stirs with each of these multi-layered stories.

Let me explain: the LOEG comics are populated by non-comics literary characters, which interact in myriad different ways. The 1999-2000 series introduced a team comprised of Mina Murray from “Dracula,” Captain Nemo from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” Allan Quatermain from H. Rider Haggard’s “King Solomon’s Mines,” Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and H.G. Well’s Invisible Man. In my excitement after reading the comic I wanted to experience the original novels that spawned these incredible characters – so I read all their respective literary origins, which made Moore’s story that much richer and entertaining for me.

When Volume Two of LOEG rolled out in 2002-2003 I prepared myself for another swim in the literary sea. That time I followed up by reading the novel that Moore used as the backdrop for the second series, namely Wells’ “War of the Worlds.” I also took in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “A Princess of Mars,” which also worked its way into the comic’s tale. Alas, I’ve yet to get around to reading “The Island of Dr. Moreau” to glimpse the doctor’s past history before guest-starring in LOEG Vol. 2.

Now, along comes Vol. 3, “Century: 1910″ and Moore announces that Miss Murray and Allan will be joined by master thief A.J. Raffles and the mysterious supernatural detective called Carnacki. What ho! Not being familiar with either character I researched them and found volumes of both E.W. Hornung’s “Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman” and William Hope Hodgson’s wonderful “Carnacki the Ghost Finder” that I practically absorbed through my pores. For the first time I’m going into a volume of LOEG with fore-knowledge of the literary characters involved – and prepared for an even more illuminating reading experience. Wait! Note to self: read Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando.”

In all, I’ve been inspired to read novels I may never have picked up before; who says comics rot your brain?

This entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Comics.
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