Nemo: River of Ghosts

The Creature from the Black Lagoon... Dinosaurs... goose stepping naked fembots...Cow-pies. Yep... ticks all my boxes this one. River of Ghosts Finds Captain Janni, daughter of the original Captain Nemo, obsessing over the re-emergence of Ayesha ( Y’know the ‘She Who Must Be Obeyed’ one) whom she personally decapitated in a previous volume and so had (quite reasonably) therefore assumed herself well rid of. Her compatriots suspect that she might be cracking up in her old age “Just like my father before the end.” comments Uschi Mabuse at one point. This volume introducing some new characters, the main one being Nemo’s body guard, the very big and ridiculously strong Hugo Coghlan. who might (or might not) be the ancient Celtic hero Cuchulainn (and who’s previous assignments include knocking off Hugo Danner at the behest of Doc Savage’s dad.) This strapping gentleman it transpires has sired a number of children out of wedlock including Desperate Dan (and, I suspect, his DNA might have eventually meandered into Captain Hercules Hurricane as well, who seems to be very much a chip off this particular old block.) By the climax of the story Janni’s suspicions have been proven correct and she dies vindicated, enthroned atop a pile of defeated enemy corpses and surrounded by the ghosts of her life’s companions.( a good send off for any super villain) in an epilogue taking place some twelve years later it appears the next generation of science pirates is off to a good start. It seems being a super villain runs in families in the LXG (L.E.G Let’s get it right.) world. parents being a bad influence and what not. A great little comic book. Kevin O'Neill's artwork is, as usual, excellent. instantly recognisable exuberant cartooning, gleefully ignoring how anyone else might be drawing comics. Best line “Hira, you know she’s tactically deaf.” I know a couple of old ladies like that myself.

A fitting end to the Nemo trilogy and this time I didn't have to use any translation tools (as per Roses of Berlin) and pinged most of the literary and movie references without resorting to the internet. An exciting read that made me laugh out loud on a pair of occasions and has left me wanting more from the world of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (hopefully the inside-back-cover image is a hint of things to come).

Third and final volume in the Nemo series of graphic novels. Which are a spin from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series - tales set in a world where all the fictional heroes and villains we know are real - and whilst this might work ok as a stand alone read, you will be better off having read all that came before to get the most from this. So start with the first volume of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen if new. If not, read on. This is a complete and self contained story in one volume, and as mentioned in the last in this series, which tells the further exploits of Captain Nemo's daughter Janni. It is as with the rest of these for mature readers only, thanks to strong language adult moments and violence. It as with other volumes is cleverly formatted like a product of it's time, with an index page akin to a lurid true stories magazine of the 70's. In the story, it's now the 1970's, and Janni is a very old woman. Having outlived many friends crew and loved ones. Who she hasn't forgotten. But she has one bit of unfinished business. Despite the protests of all around her, she is determined to finish it. A journey into a strange land awaits. Will it be her last voyage? This is a strong character piece, showing someone at the end of their time with the weight of a long life behind them. With pressures put on them by those who will follow. And it works really well in showing this. It also works nicely as a fantastical adventure, with excellent art from Kevin O'Neill as ever. Showing fantastical lands and people. There are some interesting appearances from incredibly obscure fictional characters. And an ending that does a great job of wrapping the trilogy up and being an ending that will stick in the mind for a while. A good read. Great art. And a good end to this trilogy. Well worth four stars.

Once again Alan Moore puts literary classics into the blender and creates a wholly original tale. Art work by O'Neill is excellent. The result is a fun, erotically charged mystery. Long may Moore and ONeill continue their collaborative reign.

At this point the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and spin-off) books are really just whirlwind tours of obscure popular culture with barely a story to speak of. I suppose Alan Moore is having fun with the research, but I only get about half of the characters he's name-checking (the Pink Child? Hugo Hercules?) and what story elements there are are just repeated tropes. The haughty character taken down by weapons tech, for instance. That happened to Ingrid Weiss in Tom Strong and happens (twice) to Ayesha here. Hugo is basically a slightly less uncouth Mr Hyde. The repeated gimmick is that a character turns up who is tough and gritty and then we discover they're actually Mary Poppins -- or whoever. If not for Kevin O'Neill's artwork I'm really not sure I'd bother. I would have been interested to see the further adventures of Jack now he's become Nemo, but other than the brief appearance in 2009 I guess "that's all he drew".

An excellent end to Moore's 'Nemo' trilogy. It cleverly melds elements from 1960s and 1970s horror and exploitation movies with much earlier characters, including a very obscure forerunner to Desperate Dan! Recommended as long as you like Moore's 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' stories.

Fantastic continuation of the League-verse. You need to read this.

Moore si diverte e ci diverte ancora una volta con i suoi straordinari gentlemen e la saga dei terribili Nemo!

Viele der großen Werke der Weltliteratur sind eigentlich Reiseberichte. Das vielleicht bekannteste Beispiel ist natürlich "Heart of Darkness" von Joseph Conrad. "The Lost World" von Arthur Conan Doyle ist ein weiteres Beispiel. Eine Gruppe von Menschen begibt sich auf eine gemeinsame Reise, und die Teilnehmer lernen dabei nicht nur ferne Länder und fremde Kulturen kennen, nein, ihr eigenes Leben wird auch durch die Reise in Frage gestellt. Und damit wären wir dann schon etwas näher am Konzept der "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Hier trifft man auf die Abenteuerliteratur vergangener Zeiten, deren Geschichten und Charaktere in einen neuen Zusammenhang gebracht werden, in dem sie in eine einzige, hoch komplexe Geschichte integriert werden. Dies ist der dritte Band, der sich nun um die Nachkommen von Jules Vernes Nemo dreht (wobei man eigentlich auch noch den ersten Teil von "Century" hinzufügen kann). Und es ist der dritte Band in Folge, der ganz gradlinig eine Reise erzählt. Ging es im ersten Band in die Arktis, im zweiten Band in das Berlin der 30er und 40er Jahre, so geht die Reise diesmal in den Dschungel Südamerikas, während sich die Welt bereits in den 70er Jahren befindet. In den stärksten Szenen des Buches merkt man, dass die Hauptfigur diese Zeit als fremd empfindet. Sie ist alt geworden, und mit ihr sind auch ihre Gegner aus der Zeit gefallen. Als diese versuchen, die alte Zeit zurück zu bringen, finden sie in der Familie Nemo jedoch entschlossene Gegner. Man darf diesen Band nicht zu ernst nehmen. Dies ist nicht ein neuen "Black Dossier", was eine ganze Bandbreite von unterschiedlichen Stimmungen und Stilen vereint. Dies hier wirkt eher wie eine kleine, gut gemachte und an einigen Stellen auch witzige Fingerübung. Ironie - sowie das Spielen mit der eigenen literarischen Schöpfung - das scheint hier das Mittel der Wahl für Alan Moore zu sein. Und erneut lohnt es sich, einige der in diesem Buch referenzierten Romane und Filme wieder zu sehen. Einige Elemente dieser Werke wird man jetzt mit anderen Augen sehen - so zum Beispiel die Frauen von Stepford. Aller guten Dinge sind drei - aber jetzt reicht es denn auch. Wenn das mit der League of Extraordinary Gentlemen noch weiter gehen soll, dann braucht es wieder mal einen neuen Ansatz.

A wonderful capstone to the Janni Nemo trilogy. Like all of the previous Moore & O'Neill produced League adventures, this chapter does not fail to amaze and satisfy. Today I read this new one - tomorrow I'm going back to reread League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 1 & 2, then onto The Black Dossier, followed by 1910, 1969, and 2009 - finishing with the Nemo trilogy. Great stuff!

A great finale for anyone who's a fan of Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentleman - his ability to assimilate multiple narratives and characters from various media into a new and interesting story is really incredible.

En la línea de los dos números anteriores, incluso más asequible, muy recomendable. Espero que Moore siga exprimiendo el universo de la liga.