Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44985 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

P.G Wodehouse meets H.P. Lovecraft
I could have been forgiven for totally passing on this book if I'd believed the majority of negative reviews here and even one from a close friend.

I'd bought "1910: Century" and enjoyed it immensely but realised I'd missed out a chapter of the League's progression and quickly bought "Black Dossier".

To be fair I can understand why some people seemed unimpressed....it messed with their expectations. I suspect those who hate this book also didn't enjoy the prose sections in the other 2 volumes. What seems very clear is that Alan Moore is once again playing with the medium and challenging the reader in a similar manner to Dave Sim in later issues of the mighty "Cerebus the Aardvark"

This is a fantastic addition to the continuing mythology and any true fan of the "League" is going to revel in it. Those expecting a tongue-in-cheek boy's-own comic-book romp are only going to be partially satisfied. The text-heavy (inspired) literary sections are utterly essential to our understanding of the different incarnations of the Murray-Group. Through this device the overall timeline is finally revealed. There are sections which only now become relevent with the release of "1910" and these led to several "oh wow" moments on my behalf. Mr Moore most definitely has a larger plan.

Once again the inspired use of literary characters and references is an absolute pedant's joy. I especially enjoyed the P.G Wodehouse/H.P.Lovecraft pastiche and the Orwellian Jane but it's all good to be honest.

If you love the true spirit of the "League" then don't hesitate; it's an essential purchase which really helps you fill all those pesky spaces inbetween. On the other hand if you just want another off-the-wall oddball-superhero comic then I'd strongly advise you to go elsewhere. This volume represents a bold new evolution for the series and is certainly not a book for fairweather fans.

Want a copy?
Chances are, you're looking for this and wondering why it's unavailable?

Well, DC have spat their dummy out at Moore leaving them (again), so my advice is simple: get onto Amazon.com (the US site) and order a copy from there - with the cheapest shipping, it's a bargain.

Good luck!

Reader, beware
Those who expect a straightforward follow-up to the the first two volumes of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen will be disappointed and, in all probability, frustrated.

Perhaps a third of this volume is the continuation of our hero's adventures, the other two thirds is Alan Moore writing in a series of literary styles , mostly without illustration. (The Black Dossier of the title is a book containing tales of The League in its various forms throughout its history and we read these tales during the course of this volume.) And this would be fine were it not for the way one comes to realise that all of this is not going to be terribly relevant to the forward narrative of the book. No wonder this book was so late in being published. Mr Moore must have gone through many a midnight candle slaving away at his PC to write all this. But this can be Alan Moore in his latter-day Dylan Thomas mode where you feel he may be writing more for his own benefit than the general reader, who sometimes doesn't have much of an idea what the writer's on about. (Readers of the later issues of Promethea will know the feeling.) And the endless lewdness, no doubt in an attempt at being adult, mostly seems a little juvenile.

But, lest I seem too harsh, there's much to enjoy here. The comic narrative manages to contain endless references to British culture from days of yore - 1984, Billy Bunter, Fireball XL5, you name it. And the concluding chapter, in 3D, is a treat for the eyes.

I still think Alan Moore is head and shoulders above any other writer currently working in the medium. His body of work speaks for itself. I've been reading some of his earliest work, Future Shocks, D.R. And Quinch, while reading this volume and it all comes over as delightfully silly by comparison, but what remains the same is the ever-fertile imagination. Alan Moore challenges us and we're all the better for it.

Perhaps this all an elaborate set-up for stories yet to come. If so, it's to be hoped that we've covered the history now and can all move on.