The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Top Shelf Productions (US) Knockabout Comics (UK) |
Format | Limited series |
Genre | |
Publication date | May 2009 – June 2012 |
No. of issues | 3 |
Main character(s) | A. J. Raffles Thomas Carnacki |
Creative team | |
Written by | Alan Moore |
Artist(s) | Kevin O'Neill |
Letterer(s) | Todd Klein |
Colorist(s) | Ben Dimagmaliw |
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century is the third volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill.[1][2] Co-published by Top Shelf Productions and Knockabout Comics in the US and UK respectively, Century was published in three distinct 72-page squarebound comics.
Structure
The third volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a 216-page epic spanning almost a hundred years and entitled 'Century'. Divided into three 72-page chapters, each a self-contained narrative to avoid frustrating cliff-hanger delays between episodes, it takes place in three distinct eras, building to an apocalyptic conclusion occurring in the present, twenty-first, century. The characters and themes thread through all three episodes, in which the characters of
Moore has stated that the move from DC Comics/WildStorm/America's Best Comics has been liberating, and that the work on Century is "as if we feel freed from the conventions of boys' adventure comics", allowing for a work that is "a lot more atmospheric", building slowly to "a tremendously bloody climax".[4]
Chapter 1: What Keeps Mankind Alive?
The story begins in 1910, twelve years after the
At Kings Cross, Mina and Raffles meet time traveller Andrew Norton, but he offers little help and speaks almost entirely in riddles referencing events in the far future. As he disappears to another time, Norton promises Mina they will meet again in 1969. Meanwhile, Orlando, Allan and Carnacki break into the Haddo cult's headquarters, but are caught by the leader Karswell Trelawney. When they confront the cult about their plans, Trelawney claims what Carnacki has been seeing is either inaccurate or a future event yet to happen, but Carnacki inadvertently gives them a crucial piece of information by mentioning the name of a woman who has yet to join the cult. Elsewhere, Janni is mistreated by the staff and guests of the hotel, but when Ishmael appears with news of Nemo's death, she still refuses to join the Nautilus crew and demands he leave. That evening, Janni is raped by a group of drunk men, and is later aided to her room by Suky Tawdry (another character from The Threepenny Opera). Distraught and eager for revenge, she decides to fulfil Nemo's dying wishes and fires a flare to summon the Nautilus, which is docked nearby.
The next day, MacHeath is brought to the gallows to be hanged without trial, as Mycroft is worried a trial might reveal the involvement of the 14th Earl of Gurney (the protagonist of the 1968 play
Chapter 2: Paint It Black
In 1969, around eleven years after the events of
The next morning, the League meet with Jerry Cornelius, who tells them Andrew Norton is due to reappear at King's Cross. When Norton does appear, he continues to speak almost exclusively in cryptic riddles referencing works of fiction and events in the future, but he does reveal Haddo's spirit has been transferring into other bodies for years, including Karswell Trelawney and Kosmo Gallion, and directs the League's investigation towards a nightclub called the Flying Cylinder. Before leaving, Norton warns that by the time they meet again in 2009, the League will be "too late" to stop Haddo. Elsewhere, Gallion discusses the Haddo cult with Purple Orchestra's lead singer Terner, and promises him he will become Haddo's new host body. At the Flying Cylinder, Mina meets and questions Gallion's partner Julia, who takes her back to her flat. They have sex, and Julia gives Mina a "tadukic acid diethylamide" pill.
Purple Orchestra hold a concert at
Eight years later, in 1977, Allan and the female Orlando have still not reunited with Mina, and sit sulking in a bar. Allan has relapsed into drug abuse, and growing bored of his self-pity Orlando leaves him, planning to join the army once her gender changes again.
Chapter 3: Let It Come Down
In 2009, the male Orlando is serving in the British Army and stationed in
Mina is staying in a psychiatric hospital run by the descendants of
The Antichrist is hiding in an invisible house, where he angrily rants at Haddo's severed head, which is still alive. When Mina and Orlando arrive to confront him, he emerges as a giant covered in eyes and begins to trigger the end of the world. As Orlando battles him, Excalibur reacts by summoning a light in the sky, which is seen by everyone in the world. Out at sea, arch-terrorist Jack Nemo (the great-grandson of the original Captain Nemo) sees the light, and deciding to abandon his terrorist actions in Pakistan, he orders his crew to return to Lincoln Island, where a new Nautilus is being constructed. Back in London, Allan arrives to help Mina and Orlando, shooting the Antichrist with a futuristic weapon. The Antichrist is unaffected by the blast and shoots a bolt of magical lightning from his penis, which kills Allan. An enigmatic woman resembling Mary Poppins descends from the sky and destroys the Antichrist by transforming him into a chalk drawing on the road, which washes away in the rain. Haddo's head states Armageddon will still happen, but now Mina is destined to initiate it. Before he can explain further the woman takes him and ascends back into the sky.
Emma Night arrives, accompanied by two women who have left MI5, as she has now. They escort Mina and Orlando to Africa, where Allan's body is buried in an existing grave dating back to when he originally faked his death in 1885. As they depart for the Fire of Youth, Night inquires how an immortal is able to cope with eternal life, and Mina simply tells her one has to keep on living.
Minions of the Moon
Each chapter of Century is accompanied by an episode of a text-story entitled Minions of the Moon, written in the style of a 1960s "new wave" science fiction story. Moore writes as "John Thomas", and in the style of John Sladek.[5]
Chapter One: Into the Limbus
The first segment, Love amongst the Troglodytes, is set in Africa in 1236 BC. It details how Orlando (as a young woman named "Bio") first became immortal by bathing in the Fire of Youth, and the time she spent with a tribe of primitive immortals who live around the fire. One immortal showed her the remains of a mysterious black object, a monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The second segment, In the Wake of the Black Nautilus, is set a few hours after the Nautilus' attack on East London in 1910. Mina Murray is left disturbed by her earlier encounter with Janni Dakkar, and is fearful of how her own immortality will affect her in years to come. Allan Quatermain pacifies her with a romantic gesture, promising to give her the "Moon above Soho".
The next three segments are all set in 1964; Her Long, Adorable Lashes shows Allan in a sexual relationship with the female Orlando, and reveals Orlando to be the true identity of O, the protagonist of
Chapter 2: The Distance from Tranquility
The first segment, Escape from Nowhere, is set in outer space in 1896, and shows the Galley-Wag escaping from a spaceship run by
A Long Way from Baltimore continues from Glass shirts and Goose-Bones. Under cover of invisibility, Mina spies on an American Lunar base, where the astronauts speculate and argue about the origins of a colony of giant ants which have been attacking them. In Skulls and Amazons, the Galley-Wag pilots the Rose of Nowhere across the Moon's surface, observing the behaviour of the giant ants and finding a vast field of human skulls. In the sixth and final segment, Give Me the Moonlight, Give Me the Girls..., the crew reunite with Mina and show her the various alien species they have seen, including the Clangers and their Soup Dragon. They discover a citadel populated by naked warrior women called Myrmidons, who explain that a plague starting in 1901 killed their entire male population, and the skulls are of their deceased. To keep their race alive, the women harvest sperm cells from the frozen body of a human man, whom Mina recognises as Professor Selwyn Cavor.
Chapter 3: Saviours
The first segment, A Cricket-Cap of Thorns, is set in 1901, shortly after the events of H. G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon. Stranded on the Moon and confronted by several Selenites (the giant ants from the previous chapter), Professor Cavor kills himself by stepping out of the Moon's atmosphere. The Selenites come to worship his frozen corpse as a deity. The remaining five segments are set in 1964 and conclude the main story. A Harsh Mistress reveals the war Mina and the Galley-Wag were sent to prevent began when the Myrmidons stole Cavor's body from the Selenites, and as they prepare for battle the Myrmidon leader Maza mounts a reptilian steed called a "Nak-Kar", and mentions the presence of a celestial being who observes everything the Myrmidons do. In Moonbeams, Home in a Jar, three astronauts in the American lunar base see the Myrmidon army riding Nak-Kars and charging into battle against the Selenites, but they decide not to report it to base command because they are growing cannabis inside the base and fear the repercussions of their secret being discovered.
In A Moonlight Flit, the Rose of Nowhere hovers over the battlefield, and the Dutch Dolls distract the Selenites by suspending Cavor's body from a rope. Hastily devising a plan to end the war, Mina threatens to kill Maza unless she follows her demands. In A Sea of Crises, Maza orders the Myrmidon army to cease their attack and announces they will return Cavor to the Selenites, because an alternative sperm source has been found. The Rose of Nowhere crew retrieve Professor Moriarty's corpse from its orbit around Earth and bring it to the Moon. The story concludes with The Sins of the Father, in which the Myrmidons extract intact sperm cells from Moriarty and successfully fertilise donated egg cells. Maza thanks the crew for their help in saving her race and rewards them with a banquet, but as they celebrate Mina privately regrets this solution and dreads the possible future repercussions.
Release and reception
The three volumes of the graphic novel were scheduled to be released in April/May for three successive years from 2009 to 2011. 1910 was released in April 2009, 1969 was released July 2011, and 2009 was released on June 27, 2012.[6]
Reception to Century has been mixed to positive. Chad Nevett called the book "flat out fun to read".[7] Other critics such as Chris Sims have criticized the growing amount of indiscernible references as a hindrance to the plot elements.[8]
References
- ^ Vaughan, Owen (February 25, 2009). "Interview: Kevin O'Neill reveals the secrets of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Marshal Law". The Times.
- ^ Manning, Shaun (February 26, 2009). "Extraordinary Gentleman: Kevin O'Neill on "Century: 1910"". Comic Book Resources.
- ^ Smith, Zack (April 30, 2009). "Mondo Moore: Looking Back on The Black Dossier". Newsarama. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
- Forbidden Planet International Blog Log. Archived from the originalon August 27, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ Smith, Zack (April 28, 2009). "Mondo Moore: Alan Moore on New Ideas, Old Ideas". Newsarama. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
- ^ Out today: LEAGUE 2009 (Publishers website)
- ^ Chad Nevett (2011-08-01). "'Review: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, 1969'". Comics Book Resources. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
- ^ Chris Sims (2011-07-29). "'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, 1969': The Story Isn't There". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
External links
- Century 1910 Annotations, Notes and annotations collected by Jess Nevins
- Century 1969 Annotations
- Century 2009 Annotations
- Preparing for Volume III: Century Archived 2009-03-24 at the Wayback Machine, The League of Leagues website
- The DC Comics Message Board for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen