Review of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2, Issue 3" comic

 Review of

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2, Issue 3 comic

Five out of five stars

 Literary references within a literary reference

 The reader needs to know a great deal about English literature in the mystery/horror/adventure/science fiction genres in order to understand the characters in this League. Members include Mr. Hyde, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Quartermain, Mr. Nemo and Wilhelmina Murray among others. In this case, these literary figures are operating within a modification of another classic story, “War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells.

 It is the late nineteenth century and meteors have crashed in England, and it contains creatures from Mars with powerful weapons of disintegrator and heat rays. Unfortunately, not all the members of the League are committed to defeating the invading Martians, with one of them turning traitor to the human race. Like the novel, things are starting to look bleak, the British Army has suffered a stunning defeat and the Martians have emerged from their craters atop their mighty machines. At this point, they appear unstoppable.

 This is an amazing series of stories where the characters made their “names” in classics of literature. Every member was a major character in a classic work of fiction, and it is a work of genius to put them all in the same story that is in fact a fairly accurate retelling of a classic story. I loved it! Give a copy to students in an English literature class and give them the assignment of reading it and explaining all the characters.