League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

Did anyone read it yet? I'm considering buying it, but I got one man's opinion that it's crap. I liked both the first and second part, liked it a lot actually.

The movie however..., it seems only Catwoman, Elektra and Daredevil were able to be worse.

So, anyone here, who can compare the books and tell me that Black Dossier kicks ass?

I haven't read it either ($30 hardcover), but since the first two parts were Moore's strongest work in years, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet.

The movie was a completely missed opportunity...it's such a cool concept and there's so many great characters. The movie actually hurts to watch.

It's not good. I also liked the first two, and love Alan Moore's work in general (bit much with Promethea, though, jeez). I kind of hurriedly read this at B&N one day and it was wordy and boring. If that's your thing, then have at.

I would lump in The Punisher, two or three of the Batman movies, and Superman I, III, IV. Discuss.

Hmm, if it as boring and wordy I should maybe wait a bit and first buy the rest of the BPRD books. Y - The Last Man seems pretty good as well, but I doubt I will buy all of the books.

Movies: Clooney's Nipple-Batman was abysmal. Superman I was good, Superman IV (Returns?) -> blaech.

By the way, I heard that Sean Connery couldn't be convinced to play a Quatermain with an opium addiction. That alone would have made the League movie awesome.

And as a last deviation: anybody looking forward to the Hellboy 2 movie?

While I liked the movie adaptation, it was generally panned. You guys should check out this new movie by Tarsem Singh's called "The Fall". Looks like a more serious adaptation of what League should have been;

youtube.com/watch?v=yQt0QjWHUjY

I'm going to pass on Black Dossier. Alan Moore is definitely one of my favorite comic book writers, but I never really enjoyed the League, because of the artwork by Kevin O'Neill. It's just too busy and cluttered. To be honest, I thought that movie was okay. The writing wasn't as good, of course, but it was a huge improvement visually.

Now that I think about it, I haven't been that impressed with relatively recent work by Alan Moore. Promethea was fantastic for the first 11 or 12 issues, then lost momentum during that long journey through the Immateria. And everything after that was frustrating and lackluster. Top Ten was amazing, but that hardcover 49'ers prequel was really an average story, not even close to the level of writing that I expect from Moore.

However, Moore really impressed me with The Courtyard, a two-issue mini published by Avatar, I think. The first issue and half seemed to be nothing but a noir detective story that was name-dropping the Cthulhu Mythos like crazy. Then midway through that second issue, *something* happens. Suddenly Moore unveiled an vast and deep understanding of the true horror of that mythos, in all its grand madness.

The opium addiction is really key to the character...Quatermain in the story is supposed to represent British imperialism in decline, after all.

On THE FALL...the trailer looks cool, but it's too bad Tarsem is a fucking hack. THE CELL was one of the worst movies I've ever seen with one of the most empty, meaningless, and bankrupt senses of visual style I've ever seen. THE FALL looks like it has "sumptuous" visuals but what else? Nothing, I bet. I wonder why it's been sitting on the shelf unreleased for two years?

I hated TOP 10, actually...I thought PROMETHEA was decent, if only because it let him really go on about all that shamanic magic stuff. I like Kevin O'Neil, and I think the atmosphere he brought to the story was really fun.

THE COURTYARD...that was pretty darn good, actually.

You Moore fans ought to read his novel, VOICE OF THE FIRE...it's awesome.

Moore's on autopilot these days, I think...he knows his best comics writing is behind him and it seems like he does more interesting things outside of that medium. I really like his spoken word stuff, actually. I'd love to see him write more novels, even some nonfiction...smart fella.

I really REALLY liked Supreme: The Story of the Year. That was just awesome. I had a recent discussion with my comic-loving friend about The Watchmen. He said he was really excited about reading that and discussing it with his kids when they we're old enough. I mentioned that his kids (and mine) will grow up in a comics world that's already been deconstructed (a la The Watchmen). And not only that, the deconstruction has been done to death. It's old hat, now. In fact, we're seeing a post-modern push BACK to traditional heroic adventuring, but savvy and sardonic. The power of The Watchmen has been diluted and won't have the impact it had on him and me.

...he looked a little disappointed. I should shut the hell up sometimes.

A friend of mine just got into comics and so when he asked for recommendations, of course WATCHMEN was #1. He didn't really care for it, and what's more he didn't really get what the fuss was over it.

I think it's like Jeb says...comics and superheroes are already deconstructed, post-modernized, cynical, and reinvented. I think part of the power of WATCHMEN _is_ lost on folks who weren't reading comics before 1985-1986. I remember reading it when I was a kid and I was just floored...it was something so daring, so inventive, and darker than anything that had come before. Plus the 1980s paranoia over annihilation was there and there was a real sense of melancholy that the Golden/Silver age style heroes just didn't _work_ anymore.

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS had a lot of that too...but now, the significance of Batman beating the shit out of Superman or the fact that Superman is a government tool is kind of lost, out of its proper social and cultural context.

I'll never forget reading the part where *spoiler*Batman kills the Joker*end spoiler*...that was one of the biggest "HOLY SHIT!" moments I ever had in comics...years of locking that bastard up in Arkham Asylum so he could pop out the rusty screen door down the hall every time and finally it was over. Now, those kinds of stories and ideas are all over comics.

I just started reading graphic novels last year. I never really read comics growing up. Watchmen wasn't the first I read or even the first Moore I read (The Killing Joke gets that honor), but I did really enjoy Watchmen. Its on a very short list of books I'll re-read sometime. The characters seemed more flesh-and-blood to me than superheroes in movies/TV and the story was interesting the whole way through.

I admit that I haven't re-read the Watchmen in over a decade. I loaned out my trade and never got it back, and my single issues are safely bagged and boarded, somewhere in my collection. But it seems to me that the only thing that might not hold up would be the Cold War tension underlying all of the action. If a reader wasn't alive in the '80s, it might be hard to imagine that sense of living on the brink of potential nuclear war.

I read Watchmen only 2-3 years ago, and I admit I didn't get what the big fuss was about. I mean I liked the book, I got that it was something different back then, but I just didn't understand what was so groundbreaking. And nowadays I would recommend other books to friends of mine, because of that. Watchmen had its time, but it is not something you start with nowadays, because it is not as accessible anymore. I had similar feelings with Dark Knight returns. By the way, anyone reading Fascist Batman (a.k.a. All Star Batman and Robin) by Frank Miller?

On the other hand, the Watchmen movie might have the possibility to deconstruct the genre again, but this time the genre of superhero movies. If you recollect, the movies from the past 10 years were very often made like Golden Age comics -> happy ending, bad guy gets it, good guy gets the damsel. Why? Because that is Hollywood scheme 101. Now, if Watchmen will be true to its source that could be something. But to be honest, I don't know if Zack Snyder is the right man for the job. His movies are alright and enjoyable, but the impression I got from him (especially as I watched the audio commentary to Dawn of the Dead) is that he is more into effects and coolness, than a deeper meaning behind his movies. Ah well, next year we might see what he did.

And another turn away from Black Dossier: if you haven't read it yet, everything in the Hellboy universe is just the best comic you can find right now. I have so far not once been disappointed by any of the stories, although they constantly hire new artists and tend to get more and more complex. But somehow they manage to maintain a good pace and engaging stories. Fantastic read!

The Black Dossier was the weakest of the three books by far. Go to a book store, find a copy and a comfy chair and give it a spin.

I liked Watchmen when I read it 10 years ago and it was awesome. It even was a good re-read last year. But my favorite Alan Moore was V for Vendetta. The whole "Little Man" struggle against Fascist England was great.

The Incredibles already deconstructed superhero movies. And damn well, at that--it's my favorite superhero movie by quite a stretch. I'd say Superman II and Batman Begins are in a distant second. Then you'd find, perhaps, Hellboy back there.

I don't think Incredibles was much of a deconstruction.
Read Watchmen a few years ago and loved it. Can't wait for the flick.

Haven't read Black Doss, but While I enjoyed League 1 I thought volume 2 was rather weak.