The League battles Satanic forces in Swinging Sixties London…

And we’re off again into the incredible cross-polinated world of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which is far more than just the collection of heroes from literature banding together that the dreadful movie from a few years ago would have you believe.

As ever, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s story works on numerous levels. It’s a continuation of the League’s battles begun in Century 1910, and references numerous incidents in The Black Dossier, as well as the earlier volumes, and sees Mina taking point against the Satanic cultists’ attack, culminating in a battle on the astral plane that could as easily be a bad acid trip. But it’s also a celebration of the Sixties, with characters from that pivotal year, both the real world, and numerous fictional ones. Every panel has some hidden delight: Get Carter’s titular Jack uses Callan’s smelly assistant Lonely as a grass; Adam Adamant, Simon Templar and Sean Connery’s Bond meet up. Patrick Troughton’s Doctor wanders by, probably passing Steptoe and Son, Andy Capp and Bernard Hedges from Please Sir! as he goes.

The relationship between the League members seems in a virtually irreparable state, as the confines of immortality begin to become clear – and the epilogue, set in Punk Rock Britain, seems to indicate that things can only get worse.

It’s taken two years for us to get to 1969… hopefully the 2009 volume won’t be too far behind.

Verdict: As brilliant as ever. 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to buy League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969 from Amazon.co.uk

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