The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1969
Written By Alan Moore. Art by Kevin O'Neill.
The summer convention season is pretty much over now, but the comic book train keeps on rolling. Here's a look at what came out last Wednesday:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1969: I'm not going to attempt to give the latest League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book (Century: 1969) a proper review this week; writer Alan Moore's ultra-literary fantasy/sci-fi/adventure comics are always densely packed and filled with hundreds of winks and nods to legendary fictional characters and events. (And if you only know the League from that awful movie, then you really don't know the League at all. Trust me.) So, after reading this newest title just once, I can only scratch the surface of what it has to say. That said, I did pick up few things from my once-over. First, Century: 1969 is an amazingly aimless comic — with our band of heroes lacking much of a focus or purpose. (Perhaps that's what Moore thinks of the 1960s.) Second, boasting only three members, the League isn't much of a league anymore. I honestly enjoy the title more when the "team" is larger. Lastly, after Lost Girls, this is probably one of Moore's most sex-filled comics (again, obviously a sign of those times). And, as I remarked earlier, there's so much more to be found on these pages. Pick it up and find out for yourself.
Kirby: Genesis No. 2: Speaking of densely packed comics, the second issue of Kirby: Genesis slams even more far-out characters and locales in your face than the first edition. This time around, however, I found myself getting slightly lost in the sea of colorfully costumed crusaders. I can't say for sure what's going on or where this story is going, but I'll give it a few more issues to sort itself out ... before I drop it.
Secret Warriors No. 28: And while I'm on the subject of feeling lost, I should probably point out that the final issue of writer Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors hit the stands last week. I dropped this book many moons ago because I had a hard time following the story and, honestly, I wasn't really interested anymore. Well, picking up this last book in the series, I still remembered enough to piece together threads of the tale. And that makes me want to go back and read everything I missed. Thank goodness for trade paperbacks.
Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren't Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.