The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier | |
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Bill Oakley |
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier is an original graphic novel in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. It was the last volume of the series to be published by DC Comics. Although the third book to be published, it was not intended to be the third volume in the series. Moore has stated that it was intended to be "a sort of ingenious sourcebook", and not a regular volume.[1]
Black Dossier was released on November 14, 2007.[2]
Background and format
Originally referred to as The Dark Dossier during early announcements of its existence, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier differs from the other regular volumes, as it is a self-contained
All illustrations are done by Kevin O'Neill, the artist on the first two volumes. Alan Moore also recorded a
After many changed shipping dates, the Absolute Edition was released with no vinyl record, no script/sketch companion book (something that had shipped with Absolute "League" volumes 1 & 2), and a price point of $99 – $24 higher than the two previous Absolute League volumes.[3]
The vinyl record was eventually produced in the UK.[4]
Development
According to Moore the Black Dossier was created because Moore was uncomfortable with the idea of O'Neill being unemployed during the planned hiatus between Volumes II and III of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Wanting to do a source book for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore began writing the Black Dossier, expanding the original idea to include numerous different prose sections of different styles from a Fanny Hill "sequel" to a beatnik style story and a comic narrative that frames the Dossier sections.
Moore and O'Neill also took the main characters Mina Murray and Allan 60 years into the future out of fear that the Victorian era was already waning in interest. Because many of the characters used in the Black Dossier are not in the public domain, Moore became more creative in alluding to the characters' identities but never directly revealing who they were, thus avoiding legal issues with the owners of those characters. For example, the character of "Jimmy" is a thinly veiled reference to James Bond; hints to this include owning Campion Bond's cigarette case and lighter, his preference for Vodka Martinis, having a scar from the novels, as well as owning a James Bond trademark Walther PPK pistol with 007 engraved on it. The names of other characters are shortened or otherwise changed to mask their origins: Mrs. Peel from the Avengers uses her maiden name throughout the graphic novel (here spelled "Night" instead of "Knight"), and Billy Bunter is only referred to by his first name.
A DC press release confirmed it would not be released outside the United States "due to international copyright concerns and related issues".[5] This was not an issue with previous volumes, as the Victorian setting meant that the majority of characters that were used were from works no longer under copyright. However, the book is available in the United Kingdom as well as in Canada.
Plot
Unlike earlier volumes, the comic book portions of Black Dossier are not set in the Victorian era; rather, they are set in 1958, after the fall of the
The book starts with Mina Murray (going by the name Odette O'quim) at a bar in London, where MI5 agent
Mina and Allan take a detour to
The two escape the crashing rocket by parachute and land in the Scottish countryside to find a ruined castle they were heading for.
Mina and Allan successfully return to the mysterious, utopian universe of The Blazing World, where they are reunited with their mutual lover Orlando and have safely hidden the dossier.
The Black Dossier
As Murray and Quatermain read the dossier, the contents of the dossier interrupt the narrative in different sections. Stories include:
- "On the Descent of the Gods", an account of the gods of the League universe, as written by Oliver Haddo;
- a twenty-five page Life of Orlando comic strip which tells the entire life of Second World War, told in the style the 1950s British comic Trump;[6]
- a faux William Shakespeare play detailing the foundation of the League by Prospero from The Tempest;
- an imaginary sequel to John Cleland's Fanny Hill, with full-page illustrations akin to those that Marquis Von Bayros illustrated for the book;
- a H.P. Lovecraft;
- "The Crazy Wide Forever", a short story written in the style of Jack Kerouac.
Other features include:
- a picture map of the Blazing World and its location;
- a cut-away of Nemo's Nautilus Mark II submarine;
- a series of postcards Mina and Allan sent between the years 1899 and 1913;
- profiles of the second twentieth century Leagues and the group's French and German counterparts.
Reception
Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the "Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007", ranking it at #2 and praising it as "effing genius".[7] Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave Black Dossier a 9.5 rating, praising the complex detail of Kevin O'Neill's artwork and the literary quality of Moore's writing, whilst criticising the quality of the paper, the printing style of the hardcover version and some aspects of the storytelling.[8]
Awards
- 2007: Won the "Favourite Original Graphic Novel" Eagle Award
References
- ^ "Mondo Moore: Looking Back on The Black Dossier". Newsarama. 8 December 2023.
- ^ "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier (solicitation)". Graphic Novels: Wildstorm. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
- ^ "Comics". Archived from the original on 2008-04-18.
- ^ "League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, With Vinyl Record, Now Available For Mail Order". www.bleedingcool.com. 30 November 2014.
- ^ LoEG: The Black Dossier to Only be Published in The U.S. Archived 2007-08-26 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, August 7, 2007
- ^ Winter, Andrew; Moore, Alan (2007). "Northampton's Finest: Alan Moore Interview". Tripwire Annual 2007. Tripwire Publishing. pp. 12–17.
- ^ Grossman, Lev; Top 10 Graphic Novels, Time
- ^ The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier (HC) Review, IGN
Sources
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
External links
- About Black Dossier
- Black Dossier Annotations by Jess Nevins
- The DC Comics Message Board for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Preview of Black Dossier, Entertainment Weekly
Interviews
- Alan Moore: Inside "The Black Dossier", Comic Book Resources, November 14, 2007
- Kevin O'Neill Talks "The Black Dossier", Comic Book Resources, November 20, 2007