Comic Info
Comic Name: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—1910/The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—1969/The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—2009
Publisher: Top-Shelf Productions/Knockabout Comics
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O’Neill
# of Issues: 3
Release Date: 2014
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—1969
Reprints The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—1910, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—1969, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—2009 (May 2009-June 2012). Oliver Haddo has plans for the world. His cult is planning to issue in the birth of the Moonchild who could spell doom for the planet and the galaxy. The only thing that could stop his occult plans is the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Mina Harker, Orlando, and Alan Quatermain have dedicated their lives to fighting evil and will battle Haddo and his cult through the decades. The Moonchild is coming and the League and the world may never be the same!
Written by Alan Moore, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen—Volume III: Century is a post-modern superhero comic book collection. Following the standalone collection The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, the series changed hands from Wildstorm to Top Shelf Productions and Knockabout Comics due to Moore’s disagreements with DC Comics. The series received mixed to positive reviews.
I loved the first two League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series. The clever use of classic characters interacting with other classic characters was a lot of fun. For some reason, I had a lot of problems getting through The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century…though I still liked it.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century—2009
The basic story is League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at its core. The characters are jumping through time and dealing with eternal life in their own way. The characters are constant but the times change. The 1969 issue in that sense is the most interesting because you have Orlando existing has he/she has always existed, Quatermain longing for the past, and Mina trying to “stay young” but keeping up with the times. It creates a friction that shatters the League and leads to a big finale in 2009.
What is different at this point in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is that it is harder to keep up with. It always feels like you are missing thing in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen due to the levels and layers of references made by O’Neill and Moore, but at least with the classic period of the book, I felt I had more reference points. The 1969 and 2009 volumes had a lot of popular culture references that could easily be missed (and the only real way to see them all is to go websites that break them down panel by panel).
The League feels like it is virtually at an end here. The 2009 was released in 2012 and was “up-to-date” with culture and references with Harry Potter, etc. The only way to go is back at this point. The characters have led rich lives and there are adventures that haven’t been told…I hope Moore and O’Neill keep telling them. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen—Volume III: Century was followed by The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Nemo Trilogy.
Related Links:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen—Volume I
