I was a little better able to follow this one, as opposed to 1910, as I started recognising more of the references again. However, my suspension of disbelief took a hit with it as I felt it was over the top. I know the 60s were a free love decade but I don't think they were that free loving.
I'm disappointed that Mina essentially ditched Orlando and Alan. They're not really going to get anywhere without her. She may be stuck in an insane asylum but I don't think she'd be there for 5 years unless she had an exceedingly bad trip.
Showing posts with label Alan Moore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alan Moore. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 21, 2009
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910
When I read The Black Dossier I complained that there were (essentially) too many words and not enough action. 1910 corrects that. It even elaborates on some of what was only hinted at in The Black Dossier and was a much more enjoyable read. I'm still running into the problem that I may have not quite read enough Victorian literature to fully appreciate Moore's narrative but I didn't feel as far out of the loop with this one. I think there was simply more narrative context for me to be able to connect the dots.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The further Alan Moore gets from the first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the less I enjoy them.
The Black Dossier is an interesting idea. Moore has written a graphic novel that reads like a government document with a bit of action in the middle. I've read a lot of government documents. They're not exactly fascinating reading. I felt that a bit too much time had passed between Volume 2 of this title and this volume. Obviously, the team had had a variety of adventures (alluded to by documents in the Dossier) but I think I would have much preferred reading the adventure than reading about it. There was just something missing from this one. It's only getting a 2 from me.
The Black Dossier is an interesting idea. Moore has written a graphic novel that reads like a government document with a bit of action in the middle. I've read a lot of government documents. They're not exactly fascinating reading. I felt that a bit too much time had passed between Volume 2 of this title and this volume. Obviously, the team had had a variety of adventures (alluded to by documents in the Dossier) but I think I would have much preferred reading the adventure than reading about it. There was just something missing from this one. It's only getting a 2 from me.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Watchmen
There are some comics that come along and challenge the genre. They make the jump from simple entertainment and become literature. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is one of those comics. In fact, it's probably one of two that really made people believe that comics could be more than simple entertainment.
Watchmen takes place in a world where superheroes are reality. Not like the DC universe or the Marvel universe but like if I opened the paper this morning and was unsurprised to find that a masked vigilante had stopped a bank robbery yesterday. It's an interesting idea, it certainly is played out often enough, but it's not one that I like. Maybe I'm just naive but I like stories where people put on the costumes because it's the "right thing to do". I like when they're treated like heroes, not bought or sponsored or compared to deviants. It's part of the reason I like DC better than Marvel.
It took me a while to actually sit down and write something out for Watchmen. I sort of feel like it deserves a much better review than I want to give it. I liked the articles between chapters, I felt it added a lot to the world that Moore was trying to create. I liked the subplot pirate story that Moore included. It not only showed what people were reading for fun in a world that had superheroes, it was also a companion tale to the story. The two were exploring the same themes but in different genres. Although, I wanted a different artist for the pirate comic, or different colouring, to really set it apart from the main story.
As for the story itself, I almost hate to say it this way, but I think it made more of an impact in 1985 than it would in 2009. The "post 9/11" world isn't as focused on nuclear annihilation as we were back in the 80s and I can't see the world reacting to the disaster as Moore writes it. It just seemed to lack something.
So, here's my problem, I kind of just felt that it was OK. I'd like to give it a 3, but I also recognise that it really changed a lot of things about comics, who read them and why, and allowed for greater creativity in what a lot of people think of as a pretty narrow genre. So, for the strength of literature I'll give it a 4.
Watchmen takes place in a world where superheroes are reality. Not like the DC universe or the Marvel universe but like if I opened the paper this morning and was unsurprised to find that a masked vigilante had stopped a bank robbery yesterday. It's an interesting idea, it certainly is played out often enough, but it's not one that I like. Maybe I'm just naive but I like stories where people put on the costumes because it's the "right thing to do". I like when they're treated like heroes, not bought or sponsored or compared to deviants. It's part of the reason I like DC better than Marvel.
It took me a while to actually sit down and write something out for Watchmen. I sort of feel like it deserves a much better review than I want to give it. I liked the articles between chapters, I felt it added a lot to the world that Moore was trying to create. I liked the subplot pirate story that Moore included. It not only showed what people were reading for fun in a world that had superheroes, it was also a companion tale to the story. The two were exploring the same themes but in different genres. Although, I wanted a different artist for the pirate comic, or different colouring, to really set it apart from the main story.
As for the story itself, I almost hate to say it this way, but I think it made more of an impact in 1985 than it would in 2009. The "post 9/11" world isn't as focused on nuclear annihilation as we were back in the 80s and I can't see the world reacting to the disaster as Moore writes it. It just seemed to lack something.
So, here's my problem, I kind of just felt that it was OK. I'd like to give it a 3, but I also recognise that it really changed a lot of things about comics, who read them and why, and allowed for greater creativity in what a lot of people think of as a pretty narrow genre. So, for the strength of literature I'll give it a 4.
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