Ah, the
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Alan Moore's Victorian Justice League, made
up from characters of famous novels. Personally I love it. But I can also understand people who don't. The stories are really not the greatest you'll find, and sometimes, especially in the
third volume, Alan Moore gets... very interested in... referencing 18th century
pornography. On the other hand, the endless stream of literary references are great fun
for those looking to recognise stuff they know, or looking for new literature to
discover. And it's an Alan Moore comic. There is no one alive who has a better
grasp of the how to tell a story in this medium. The staging of a scene, the
panel-to-panel flow, transitions, parallel storytelling, symbolism... Moore
Here's a
quiet scene from the second volume I particularly like. It's the middle of the
night, and Mina Murray can't sleep, so she's wandering through the inn where the
League is staying for the night. Then she runs into mister Hyde.
Click to embiggen!
There is
this trope called "The Sacrificial Lion". Marvel and DC comics use it
quite often these days. They take a minor hero from the 80's, or one of the
many background X-Men, and have a new villain kill them to make him or her
appear more threatening. It's often quite gory and violent, and I don't think
many people actually like the trope. Here Alan Moore sort of uses it, but does it in a much more
understated way, to much better effect.
We've seen in previous issues how horrible mister Hyde is. He's introduced as a murderer and rapist, and
after he gets recruited he spends most of his time ripping villainous minions in half. So someone worse than him, who could that be? Well, you
should know Mina Murray was called Mina Harker before her divorce. She was
married to Jonathan Harker. So you can understand why she involuntary touches
her neck in the last panel. Her scarf hides the wounds she received from count Dracula.
Funny thing
is, Dracula doesn't actually appear in the League. After all, he died at the end of his
own novel. But that one panel certainly shows how threatning he is. He doesn't
show up and defeat Hyde, no, that would be to blasé. Instead we just get to see
Mina's reaction, and have to wonder for ourselves how someone could be worse
than a sadistic murderer like Hyde. Here the fun part of using your
knowledge of literature to unpack the League comes into play. You know Dracula.
You know he seduces people, hypnotizes them and makes them his slave. And that
he turns you into a twisted, undead version of yourself. Suddenly the bloodthirst of Hyde seems more... base.
The last
panel is particularly well done. It's a one-word reaction, and the big reveal
of the scene. But it's not a bigger panel, or a splash page. By keeping panel
the same size as the rest we stay focused on the personal. The flow of the
conversation is not interrupted. But to emphasise how this is a crucial moment
there is a lot of contrast between the other panels: it's much lighter than the
rest. It's far less wordy. The other panels are dominated by the bulk of Hyde's
body, now we only see Mina. The final touch is that hand, just lightly touching
her neck. Many comics (or films or series for that matter) would've put a
flashback here. Hyde says "I believe you have perhaps met someone worse
than me", cut to a panel of Dracula attacking Mina, possibly all in red.
Which I always find a bit lazy. Readers aren't idiots you know, they can make
the connection. That little hand movement tells you everything you need to
know, but it's much less intrusive. In fact, it doubles as a nice little character
moment for Mina. An automatic gesture. A tick maybe, picked up from the trauma.
Understated,
making you think, framed perfectly, invoking classic literature. This is the
League at its best.
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