Tuesday, July 23, 2019

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Immortal love



Alan Moore has spent most of his long and fascinating comic career trying to portray himself as a grumpy old git, but he's never really been able to hide the fact that he is a shameless and hopeless romantic at heart.

It was there in the relationship between Alec and Abby in Swamp Thing (everyone copied the horror and the everything-you-know-is-wrong, but forgot about the cuddling), and in the general good nature of Tom Strong and his family. And it's still there, at the end of all things, in the final issue of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Moore has his priorities right, in this final comic script from the writer. He's still mercilessly taking the piss out of everything, (including - especially - his own work), and it's just as funny as ever - the way he disposes of the Bond problem is callously hilarious. And he's not bothered by the way the world is literally eaten alive by its own fictions, because the survivors can still find love in all the darkness. It doesn't last forever - Mina gets two moments of romantic glory with two completely different people - but this was never a story that would ever have a proper happy ever after.

You can play spot the reference with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as much as you want, but that wasn't what I came for, and it wasn't what I got. All I wanted was some love in all the chaos, and it's still there, even at the very end.

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