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League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

phil_t

New Member
With the film coming out i was thinking of giving this a read - has anyone read it? What did you think about it?
 
I read this about a month ago and loved it. Forget the atrocious movie and have a read of the comic.

The dialogue and art's full of references to classic literature- HG Wells, Dickens, Poe, RL Stephenson, Doyle etc. The beauty of the thing is that not 'getting' the references won't spoil the story for you- it's just a bonus that adds to the experience if you do.

It draws you in from the outset, with the world seeming real. The story reads a lot like the pulps that inspired Raiders of the Lost Ark did. Fun, fast paced, adventure with lots of action, with sparkling dialogue and enough conspiracy paranoia to go around.
 
I've read both series of LXG (sorry, being lazy).

Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil have produced a cracking comic, using established characters from British and French Victorian Literature.

Read these stories ASAP, you won't regret it!
 
I saw the movie last night for the first time but have yet to read the series. That said, I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would after reading the reviews. I'm sure that reading it will be much more enjoyable and I would have prefered to do so before seeing the film but it gave me a taste of what to look forward to.

RaVeN
 
You enjoyed the movie?

Really?

Did you enjoy the 300 ft submarine floating through the canals in Venice? Did you enjoy the ludicrous SFX that they were trying to pass as mr. Hyde? Did you enjoy the complete absence of plot? Did you enjoy the man painted white that was the Invisible Man?

Well, did ya?!

Cheers, Martin :D
 
Oh, spork the spork off, you sporking spork!

And your taste in movies sporks!

Cheers, Martin :D
 
I'm touched , but then that should be obvious.

OK, here's a sincere reply (if I remember how it's done) I went into it not expecting much. I greatly enjoyed the idea of using the different characters but will admit the story line was generic at best. After listening to the "special features" section on the DVD I can see why. OK, so they shrunk the 900 foot sub down to 300. Big deal! So they spent more attention to the custom belts and shoes than they did on the plot. So what? It was a fun little ride while it lasted and didn't cost me a cent to see. (a friend loaned it to me)
My main objection is that they didn't use Peta Wilson the way that I would have!

RaVeN
(who'd better stop before he gets blue sporks)
 
I can live with a 300 ft sub, but a 300 ft sub in the canals of Venice!? They're, like, 20 ft wide and 10 ft deep!!

All in all, I really didn't like it. It wasn't exciting, it wasn't funny, it wasn't .. well, anything, really.

Cheers, Martin :D
 
Did you read the series first? Because I didn't. I'm sure I would feel differently if I did but as it was, it was kinda like elevator music. Nothing great but it didn't upset me. And after all, IT WASN'T REAL. What, you can believe in vampires & the invisable man but you want to get all sporked up over the Venice scene?
Like I said, I enjoyed it. It wasn't worth writing home about but I didn't hate it either.
And come on...Peta Wilson for god sakes. I'd watch her spork 'til the cows come home.

RaVeN
(MOOOOOOO)
 
Granted, the plot sucked. But the characters were fun and I'd watch Sean Connery read the Joy of Cooking, he's so great in whatever he does.

I also loved, loved, loved Peta Wilson. She made being a vampire look cool in a way that Anne Rice can't even accomplish.
 
Raven, i think we'd all use Peta Wilson that way, given half a chance!!

Anyone else think girls just look damn hot pretending to be vampires!! Mmmmm, Kate Beckinsale.

But seriously, thanks for all those spoilers Martin ... no, really ;)

Phil

PS: Ive just noticed the order of the smilies is moving around :eek:
 
Anytime ... :eek:

And by the way, I even thought Peta Wilson sucked (no pun intended). Absolutely no redeeming factor in the entire film!

Cheers, Martin :D
 
Movie stunk

Okay, the movie was really bad. I couldn't believe the horrible story and the canal stuff really was a joke. Don't let it throw you off. It's worth reading
 
Okay, I recently bought LXG Volume 2 (the comics series). I really enjoyed the first volume; liked the way Alan Moore used these disparate characters in a single story.

So anyway, I want to say that the second volume sucked. Well, it's nowhere near as good as the first one. It's like Moore went ballistic and didn't know what else to do with the characters.

And more than a quarter of the bloody trade paperbank is written word (i.e. like newspaper columns)! I don't mind reading, but I bought a comics collection, so I wanna see pictures! :mad: Anyway I still haven't read the written word stuff, so I don't know if they're any good.

Just wanted to warn those of you who may be itching to get the 2nd volume of LXG.

ds
 
direstraits said:
Okay, I recently bought LXG Volume 2 (the comics series). I really enjoyed the first volume; liked the way Alan Moore used these disparate characters in a single story.
ds

Are they graphic novels, direstraits, or actual comics? I'd like to pick them up, because -- yes, I admit it! -- I enjoyed the movie. :eek: If the comics are better, more to the good!

Cathy
 
LXG is an actual comics series. The trade paperbacks I speak of look like regular graphic novels, but are actually collections of the individual comics - saves you the trouble of hunting down the the individual issues.

Currently there are 2 volumes of LXG trades, and I recommend that you get the first one first.

The movie was entertaining, but having read the comics first, I felt that the movie did not do the original story justice. Although I did really like the character Dorian Gray.

ds
 
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