The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999)

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Alan Moore

Artist: Kevin O'Neill

Publication date: March 1999 - September 2000

Summary:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the hour is at hand, the object of your desire has arrived! The award-winning series by Moore and O'Neill is available in a handsome softcover edition. Thrill to the immortal adventures of Mina Harker, Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll, and last but not least...Mr. Hyde. This marvelous band of adventurers is recruited by the Empire in her hour of need, to discover the secret of White Chapel...and the nefarious plans the sinister Doctor has for it.

Source: ABC/Wildstorm/DC Comics

Forget the crappy Sean Connery movie (he has) and go straight to the source. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is one of comic book genius Alan Moore's most accessible, fun books. Like his other work, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is full of dense allusions and packed with references plain and obscure, but the central story moves like an action movie so it never gets bogged down. The story follows a group of famous fictional characters (Alan Quartermain, Dracula victim Mina Harker, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, and Dr. Jekyll's nasty alter ego Mr. Hide) as they fight a mysterious threat in a steampunked Victorian London.

The characters are all familiar, but Moore peels back the endless layers of English underwear to show all the nasty secrets the original stories couldn't. The book is full of dark villains and darker heroes, impossible machines, and sinister plots- all viewed through the sketchy lines and insane colors of a madman. Every page is packed with images out of Queen Victoria's worst nightmares. Moore spends a lot of the later series investigating the far-flung corners of his fictional universes, but the first two volumes are must-owns for anyone who loves their historical revision served up full of piss and vinegar.

 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999) TPB 1