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| The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier | 
 enlarge | Author: Alan Moore
Creator: Kevin O'neill
Publisher: Wildstorm
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $16.09
You Save: $13.90 (46%)
New (28) Used (7) Collectible (1) from $14.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  78 reviews
Sales Rank: 3095
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 7 x 0.7
ISBN: 140120306X
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9781401203061
ASIN: 140120306X
Publication Date: November 16, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: D20080718103327D
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Product Description
England in the mid 1950s is not the same as it was. The powers that be have instituted...some changes. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of an iron-fisted regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return and are in search of some answers. Answers that can only be found in a book buried deep in the vaults of their old headquarters, a book that holds the key to the hidden history of the League throughout the ages: The Black Dossier. As Allan and Mina delve into the details of their precursors, some dating back centuries, they must elude their dangerous pursuers who are Hell-bent on retrieving the lost manuscript... and ending the League once and for all.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 73 more reviews...
 SHOW don't TELL, Alan! November 30, 2007
69 out of 80 found this review helpful
Imagine two of your very good friends taking off for a couple of years and going on all kinds of great adventures, but not bothering to invite you. Eventually they return home and tell you about how great it all was; meanwhile, you're wishing you could have been a part of the adventures as well. Feeling left out?
Welcome to The Black Dossier.
So goes my experience with this entry to the series. While this is reported to be something of an aside rather than the "true" 3rd entry to the series, it reads like an epilogue. Worse, The Black Dossier details numerous adventures of the League in its various incarnations, many of which are quite compelling and engaging, yet this is a book about TELLING the reader of these fantastic adventures, NOT showing them. We read reports about Mina and Allan in American dealing with Cthulhu horrors, or facing off with a rival league in France, but these are presented as rather dull after action debriefings or journals, often just pages of text, perhaps taking the "novel" portion of "graphic novel" too far, and not giving the reader involvement or a stake in these adventures. Even if future volumes were to detail the various exploits mentioned, they would be hamstrung given the publication of the play by play detailed within--terribly disappointing for a series that unlike many other comics, is willing to kill of major characters and surprise the reader.
Regardless, in The Black Dossier, of the original League of volumes 1 and 2, only Mina Harker (now a striking blonde) and Allan Quartermain return for the bulk of the story (both appearing quite young courtesy of a peculiar find in Africa, slyly revealed to the reader while it goes over the heads of British Intelligence), and steal The Black Dossier from a post George Orwell's 1984 England. The overall plot is little more than a straightforward chase (to use the term generously) as Mina and Allan flee England with The Black Dossier, although there is little sense of danger or urgency as the pair leisurely take flight, giving the impression of being on holiday rather than at any real risk. (The main action sequence, which takes place in a "space port", is brief and neither Mina nor Allan is particularly challenged by their opposition).
As usual, Mina (rightfully so) takes the lead, although poor Allan does little other than ask obvious questions so that clumsy exposition dialogue can tumble from Mina's mouth in an effort to explain what is going on and why. Again, the reader is often told rather than shown--a strange choice for this medium--and given the rather "extraordinary" exploits of volume 1 and 2, nothing here even comes close to matching the excitement. The story comes across as rather mundane, more "Jason Bourne" (well, James Bond) than fantastic until the very end--and ending which amounts to little more than a tour, rather than any kind of significant resolution (such as volume 1) or cliffhanger (volume 2). The Mina and Allan of fifty years later seem a bit like shadows of the characters fans of the series came to respect and appreciate in the first two volumes: Allan is largely insignificant and Mina is a mouthpiece for the writers, neither is allowed to flourish as characters or grow.
While I found this volume largely disappointing, there are numerous interesting bits throughout The Black Dossier, although these are individual nuggets here and there. For instance, the character of Orlando is introduced through an eighteen page back story, detailing how the immortal character "Forest Gumps" his (or her) way through 3,000 years of human history while often changing genders--it reads much better than it sounds in this review, yet the character has little to do with the story as a whole, other than a few other intriguing mentions during other League adventures the reader misses out on and what amounts to a cameo appearance at the end. This introduction, as well as the introduction of many numerous other characters (members of the League, rivals) give the feel of a rich and textured world that the reader is only given a sliver or glimpse to enjoy--frustrating when there is clearly much more than could be done with both this text and the series. Other sections of the book are small treasures, such as the "PornSec SexJane PicTell" insert (1984) and the postcards written by the League and sent to British Intelligence over their many adventures.
The literary and fictional references are not only present in this volume as the previous, but the volume is turned up to 11, giving those who enjoy the "Where's Waldo?" aspect of the League plenty to appreciate in this volume. The production values are also amazing.
Overall, for those readers coming to the series from the "LXG" movie, the graphic novels have nothing in common with the movie other than the shared name. Of the three, The Black Dossier is certainly the worst choice for anyone curious about the series, given it's clearly written for those already familiar with the characters and world. As another volume of the series, I found it was a disappointment, even if judged as a tangent to the "core" series of stories (which seems to beg for a sliding scale that The Black Dossier sorely needs). There definitely are gems here for the dedicated fan of the series (and frankly, those might be enough for the diehard fans), but the generally weak story and "tell, don't show" feel of the book far outweighed positives. If this were published as an epilogue after ten or twelve volumes of the League, I believe I would give it a positive review (under the assumption that the numerous adventures were told about were detailed elsewhere), yet published after the first two volumes The Black Dossier serves as little more than a clumsy tangent or (worse), as a spoiler for what could have been many engaging adventures of the League in its various incarnations.
An utter mess December 30, 2007
34 out of 40 found this review helpful
Black Dossier has been a long time coming. Plagued by copyright squabbles and endless delays in publication, fans of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at times despaired of ever seeing the book in print.
It wasn't worth the wait.
Far from the 1890s, in which the first two League adventures were set, Black Dossier takes place in 1958. A pair of World Wars has passed, as well as the Big Brother era set forth in George Orwell's classic 1984. Former Dracula's bride Wilhelmina Murray, now a blonde but still youthful, and adventurer Allan Quatermain, rejuvenated and posing as his own son, are the only remainders of the previous (but not original) League.
But where earlier volumes focused on adventure and conflict, Black Dossier involves simply a book about League history. Mina and Allan want to read it, even though it's largely about them, and certain forces in the British government want to stop them from doing so. That's pretty much it.
Oh sure, I'll give the book credit for incorporating a young James Bond, Emma Peel (nee Night) and Bulldog Drummond among the forces arrayed against them. But, while the literary references that punctuate these books have been a delightful puzzle in the past, many of them in this volume are so obscure as to be tedious.
It's well documented that creator Alan Moore spent much of the creative period for this book in a slap-fight with DC, which owns the America's Best imprint under which the League books to date have been published. And it seems to me Moore -- who has since severed all ties to DC and has promised future League books to Top Shelf -- basically just tossed a bunch of ideas into the Cuisinart to produce this mess.
Artwork by Kevin O'Neill, on the other hand, is as professionally handled as ever, and DC outdid itself in its presentation, which includes a heavier stock of paper for certain sections, a Tijuana Bible insert and fancy 3-D glasses for use in the bewildering conclusion. Sadly, Moore let his readers down. It remains to be seen if he can woo them back with promised future volumes.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(net) editor
 At Least Six Stars Out of Five November 20, 2007
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book. Moore has once again expanded upon the medium of comics, making this collection something well worth buying even in the wonderful world of file sharing. This book is actually printed on several different types of paper, varying based upon which part of the book you're reading (there is actually a book within a book, the titular Black Dossier): one section will be typical glossy graphic novel paper, then one is thicker parchment paper, and another is a finer paper. This may not thrill every reader, but it definitely adds to the experience of reading the book. Additionally, a pair of 3-D glasses are included in the back, for an impressive 3-D section towards the end of the collection.
As far as the story goes, this volume of the League is much more driven by references and in-jokes to Victorian literature, from the obscure to the ridiculously obscure, which any fan of Moore's recent works would expect. There is not necessarily as much in the way of a standard plot as the previous two volumes, but this is more than made up for by the depth that is added to the entire concept of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and in particular, the several different incarnations that have occurred over the years. Characters like Swift's Lemuel Gulliver and Shakespeare's Prospero make appearance, in addition to the old standards Mina Murray and Allan Quatermain. There are also a few more modern references, which make the book a real delight to read.
This is, admittedly, an English major's opinion, but I can definitely say that this is my favorite of the three volumes of the League that Moore has produced so far. You also have to give credit to O'Neill for his art -- it not only propels the story, but it also does a great deal of the effort towards easing the reader into a book that is unconventional, to say the least. People who enjoyed the previous volumes will not be disappointed, this is Moore, O' Neill, and the League at the top of their respective games. You won't regret buying this book.
 A rare Moore disappointment November 20, 2007
15 out of 22 found this review helpful
After such a long wait: Disappointing. Undisciplined Moore, playing show-off and not all that effectively. The shallow, sadistic Bond character is hardly loyal to the Ian Fleming creation, and the digressions into the "Black Dossier" are hit and miss with more the latter. Lots of sex, but not much is actually sexy, just graphic. This effort reeks of the Hollywood production where a powerful actor or director gets carte blanche and sinks under his or her own pretentiousness. I'm not saying this is a failure of "Battlefield Earth" or "The Postman" scale, but it is a failure nonetheless.
Almost everything I hoped it would be... and more November 19, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Well, after what seems like a lifetime of delays, copyright issues, publishing battles and general waiting, I finally have my hands on Black Dossier. and it's fantastic. The book is definately worth the money as it's chock full of all kinds of extra goodies including a Shakespeare folio, a sequel to Fanny Hill, a pornographic comic and of course the truly EPIC 3d section which closes the book (do NOT miss this bit!)
The story itself is probably more easily compared to volume 1 of the League than volume 2, as it involves several powers revolving around one item. However, Moore and O'Neill's storytelling seems like a natural progression from volume 2 ie. More sex, violence, nudity and swearing are included, in particular the swearing, which to be honest seems overused in some parts of the book. The nudity however is all tastefully done and does not detract from the quality of the story at all.
The book is basically arranged as follows:
It starts with Allan and Mina trying to obtain the Dossier... when they obtain it the first half of the Dossier itself is shown. This contains many different artistic and literary styles and is incredibly well made, even using different kinds of paper in parts! Then the story returns to Allan and Mina, and after that the second half of the Dossier is shown before the book's conclusion. This layout for the plot may sound confusing but it progresses very smoothly and works very well in detailing parts of the plot.
overall, this book is hugely successful and as a huge fan of the series my expectations were very high. I was not disappointed in the slightest and can therefore recommend this to any comics/League/literature fan as an incredible reading experience
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