h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

With the release of a film version of Alan Moore's Graphic Novel Series (GN) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, people may hopefully be turning a positive eye towards both GNs and 19th Century literature. Each issue Moore manages to flawlessly place a dozen literary references into his text, making the search and discovery only half of the fun. In recent days I've dowloaded dozens of e-books of Jules Verne, HG Wells, Twain and Poe, to name a few. Moore's use of such classic English literature as the basis for a steampunk England creates a sense of nostalgia and awe in both British Literature Scholars and those of us who have only heard bits and peices of the now culturally squashed tales.

How many of us know that Dr. Jeckyll was a homosexual? Or that Alan Quartermain was a drug addict? So many of us grew up with the Great White Male image of Captain Nemo of Disney fame, never realizing that he is, in fact, an great Indian Prince. By retelling these tales, Moore is shattering and and all stereotypes his readers have formed about these legendary characters. In revealing their flaws and sins, we see both ourselves and the falsehoods that we have been forced to accept about peiece of literature that many people never read.

I noticed earlier that Mr. Moore is placed below a guide to adult comics. After reading several of his collections, I'm wondering if the two should be linked somehow. It's always a great pleasure, as a reader, to see Moore place sexuality and intercourse within his texts with characters that are not anatomically disproportioned. Unlike so many comics where Barbie dolls fight villians wearing next to nothing, Moore places an emphasis on sexuality without flaunting it about. He doesn't force his reader's faces into over-sized busoms. Instead, he inserts actual intercourse (something you never see in Marvel/DC), thereby circumventing the tintilation factor of fanboy comics and creating a beacon of hope for those of us who like our smut and want it well written!

So if you're an amateur pornographer, or just like 19th Century Literature, check out the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.