The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

Title

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

Writer:

Alan Moore

Artist:

Kevin O’Neill

Content:

Black Dossier contains violence, language, nudity, and sexual situations and is for mature audiences.

Vital Specs:

Cost - $29.99
Publisher – DC Comics/Wildstorm

Introduction:

Alan Moore is considered by many to be one of the people responsible for revolutionizing the comic book world. With his work on Watchmen, Swamp Thing, America’s Best Comics, and lately The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have all gained him success. He is a man with countless ideas and is willing to break taboos to tell stories that are interesting and stimulating. He has also had a rough time with members of the comic book industry, and his latest addition to The League seems to be something that has all his experiences rolled up into one.

Story:

Part story, part handbook of the history of The League, Black Dossier immerses us into the world first laid down in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, giving us insight into what happens after and before the original League is formed. The book is divided into a comic story set in an alternate history of Britain’s 1958. In the comic, two ex-British agents are looking for a book entitled the ”Black Dossier,” which will reveal all the information that the top secret agency MI5 has on The League and their members. They find it at Vauxhall Cross, the MI5 headquarters.

The duo retrieve the Black Dossier, only to be beset upon by three very dangerous individuals. The story unfolds in a world that is remarkably different, yet unmistakably similar to our own. Who are these two ex-agents that risk life and limb to uncover the secrets of the Black Dossier? What secrets do they uncover and what other secrets do they hope to keep from MI5? The Black Dossier reveals all.

The dossier portion of the book goes into detail of the exploits and lives of some of the different League members. Some are done in a strictly narrative format, others in six page comic panels. Then there are the maps and diagrams that tell other tales of the League’s members.

Review:

Have you ever gone to a buffet and eaten too much? Or in learning something new, had a bit of a headache? For me, that was what reading the Black Dossier was like.

There are many things that are spot on in this book. The design has many extremely cool elements. Taking off the dust jacket reveals a jet black cover with the MI5 insignia embossed on the front and a black cloth page marker is held within. Some of the stories are told on different kinds of paper, such as “The New Adventures of Fanny Hill,” the “Tijuana Bible,” and the stunning 3-D portion of the comic, which comes complete with 3-D goggles.

The comic and dossier files are filled with tidbits and references to obscure elements of fiction throughout history. The book is not one that you will digest in one sitting, or maybe even two or three, there is that much content here. Let’s take a look at each one separately.

The comic portion was good enough, although I felt at times there was way too much dialog going on with references that took me awhile to grasp that this was a much different 1958 than anyone was familiar with. The story picks up in the middle, but completely jumps off the cliff at the end going to a place I totally didn’t expect. Not to say that it isn’t a quality story, it was just hard to digest.

The dossier files are really neat, but will take you awhile to get through. Their content felt like it was done experimentally, with O’Neill and Moore taking many risks in their storytelling format. They styles and format being done much as comics and fiction were done in their time, which added a rich element to them overall.

One unexpected element of much of the comic was the nudity and sexuality of the book. Moore wrote this after doing his erotic piece called “Lost Girls” and the influence here is unmistakable. This book is definitely not for the kids.

Conclusion:

For fans of The League series, there is a lot do devour. Notes on the League that we know from the previous two books, as well as notes from other eras give a lot of interesting information. There was some very unexpected and basically pornographic content, which might make some happy, but will undoubtedly turn others off as well.

One thing to remember, in my opinion, is that the Black Dossier is not the next chapter of the Leagues stories, rather the unfolding of what may come down the line. Moore sees this work as having opened up all of fiction to the League, giving him material to pull from for countless stories.

The format was clever and unlike everything you have probably ever read. At first it may be overwhelming, but it will give you a lot to dig into for reads later on. This is definitely not for people new to the League. I would suggest you start elsewhere and build back up.

For me, the ending of the comic portion was a neat idea, but didn’t grab me with it’s execution. The gobblygook that many of the characters spoke made my head spin. Maybe I didn’t take the time to fully digest it, and decipher it’s meaning, but sometimes I don’t want to do that. I will have to go back and see it again with different eyes.

The Black Dossier had an enormous amount to offer. Almost too much. I almost wished I had read Moore’s interview with CBR which divulges the tumultuous history of the Black Dossier and had known about Jess Nevin’s annotations that takes the comic apart page by page, helping with the unusual references.

Moore and O’Neill don’t disappoint, just be sure you know what you are getting into with the “Black Dossier.”