“League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910″ by Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill
I could have guessed what would happen. When I picked up League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910, I couldn’t get my bearings. The series, formerly at DC, was now published by Top Shelf Productions. When I started to read, I wondered, who was this character? What happened to that one? Was I confused because I’d forgotten things from an earlier storyline? Were things murky on purpose? My best guess: it’s some of both.
When I read 1910 in its entirety, including the prose end-story, more of it made sense. Like its predecessors, 1910 is a dark, entertaining romp with characters from famous Victorian literature. Many of the references I got (Virginia Woolf’s ambisexual Orlando); I’m sure more sailed over my head (Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny were two I looked up later).
Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, Jr., and colleagues are in pursuit of an occult group up to no good. Meanwhile, a young Indian woman defies her father and strikes out on her own. Stories collide in a spectacular way, accompanied by a duet commentary from two other characters. It’s interesting, with many plots left dangling, which certainly makes me eager for the next installment of what is to be a trilogy.
Till then, though, I’ll reread the earlier series, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, vol. 1.