The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries published by Top Shelf and Knockabout Comics. According to Moore, the concept behind the series was initially a "Justice League of Victorian England" but quickly grew into an opportunity to merge several works of fiction into one world.
Moore and O'Neill have stated that they plan to map out many different eras in the League series with Allan Quatermain and Mina Murray being the two constants. Elements of Volume I were used in a very loose feature film adaptation of the same name, released in 2003 and starring Sean Connery.
Volume I
Main article: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
In the aftermath of the events of the novel Dracula, a now disgraced and divorced Mina Harker (née Murray), is recruited by Campion Bond on behalf of British Intelligence and asked to assemble a league of other extraordinary individuals to protect the interests of the Empire. Together with Captain Nemo, Mina travels to Cairo to locate Allan Quatermain, then on to Paris in search of Dr. Jekyll; finally in London she forcibly recruits Hawley Griffin, The Invisible Man, who completes this incarnation of the League. Meeting with Professor Cavor, the League is sent against Fu Manchu in his Limehouse lair, who has stolen the only known example of cavorite and plans to use it to build an offensive airship, against which Britain would have little defence. Having eventually retrieved the cavorite, the League delivers it into the hands of their employer — none other than Professor Moriarty (arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes), who plans to use it in an airship of his own, with which he will bomb his adversary's Limehouse lair flat, taking large parts of London and the League itself with it. An aerial battle above London commences, and the League eventually triumphs. Mycroft Holmes replaces Moriarty as the League's employer, and the extraordinary individuals are tasked to remain in service to the Crown, awaiting England's call.
Volume II
Main article: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
Placed during the events of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, Volume II opens on Mars, where John Carter and Lt. Gullivar Jones (of Edwin Lester Linden Arnold's Gullivar of Mars) have assembled an alliance to fight against Martian invaders. When the invaders are forced off Mars and land on Earth, they begin to build their tripods. Griffin leaves the League under cover of invisibility to form an alliance with the invaders before betraying it outright, stealing plans for the defence of London as well as physically and emotionally assaulting Mina.
Mycroft Holmes deploys Nemo and Hyde to defend the capital by patrolling London's rivers in the Nautilus. Meanwhile Murray and Quatermain meet up with Dr. Moreau in his secret hideout in the forest, and tell him that MI5 has asked for something known as H-142. Hyde returns to the British Museum and tortures Griffin; breaking Griffin's leg and raping him before murdering him. Hyde dies fighting a tripod, allowing time for MI5 to launch H-142. However, before he goes to fight the tripods, he asks Mina for two things: for her to give him a kiss, and permission to touch her breast.
The Black Dossier
Presented as a stand-alone sourcebook, rather than as the third volume, the Black Dossier has a framing sequence set not in the Victorian era but in 1958. Events take place after the fall of the Big Brother government from Nineteen Eighty Four. (The in-story explanation for this apparent date-shift is that Orwell's book was published in 1948.) The story itself sees Mina Harker and Allan Quatermain — now immortal after bathing in the fire of youth from She — on their quest to recover the Black Dossier itself (a confessed macguffin), in a metafictional unravelling of the secret history of the now-disbanded League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Out to stop them is a trio of secret agents: brutally womanizing young spy Jimmy (a thinly veiled James Bond), a young agent named Emma Night (maiden name of Mrs. Emma Peel from The Avengers), and Hugo "Bulldog" Drummond. The pursuit takes Mina and Allan from London to Scotland and eventually to the magical Blazing World, overseen by Shakespeare's Prospero.
Initially intended to be accompanied by a 45-rpm record featuring songs referenced in the plot, this addition was shelved ostensibly to be included as an incentive with the 'Absolute Edition', and ultimately dropped entirely — to the chagrin of the author/singer.
Replies
It looks like it put that there because I just copied your link and I just tried it a couple times and it did every time. I finally went back to ge.tt and got my link again and this time it was right I hope. ------------------------------ Rick
PS, I am on the hunt for the last part of this set that brings it into the present more. When i find it I will let you know.
I found some more of this series. Will let you know when the d/l finishes.
I'll compare it to what you have.
I am attempting to download a few more of part 3 without much luck. Have at it since I am not having much luck. Now i will go on to find more of my list of the foundations of Steampunk. Thanks Bob ------ Rick
I got several other comics/graphic novels and a more complete copy of the "Notes" that you posted. the actual file is a zip, not a cbr and contains web pages of notes and some graphics.
Then i found the full set of alternate covers, which are interesting for their art work.
I'll post them tomorrow.
Bob
League of Extraordinary Gentlements Notes.zip
Thank You Sir, ge.tt must have had the hiccups when I got the link LOL ---------------------------------------------- Rick
It's still wrong, although it seems to work :>)
The "://" at the end should be deleted.
Rick:
You have a typo in the link
Should be
http://ge.tt/99gqrzD?ctp
Bob