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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dense, detailed, damn good, about as close to straight fiction as a graphic novel gets.
This is, I think, one of Moore's weakest books. It's windy, overlong, overly verbose, the art is workmanlike.
The parts about the mythology of the masons rambled on too much
dark
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've had this on my shelf for years. I saw that mediocre movie with Johnny Depp (oh my) and thought "I guess that was OK; it was a pretty nifty concept, but sort of fell down in the execution." I then learnt it was based on a comic by Alan Moore, who, as near as I can tell, is a divine being come to this mortal plane for the sole purpose of blowing my tiny (and already dangerously unhinged) mind.
Comics have that remarkable ability to concisely show a surreal, hallucinatory or fantastical scene (usually as an inner journey or spiritual experience), where a purely prose medium would flounder, and show not wondrously bizarre visions and portents but instead tedious, self-indulgent, unreadable twaddle (I'm looking at you, Mr Stephen "Oh goodness me I'm having such a meaningful and profound series of seemingly unconnected visions" King). From Hell is ostensibly about Jack the Ripper's terrible, terrifying grip on London but also so much more.
From Hell is a trip straight to the heart of the wretched reality of East End, and delivers (at the very least) a two-fold message: just as numerous organisations and individuals manipulate those less powerful than themselves to their own ends, so too perhaps do powerful entities push and prod us here on this material plane to further their own unknown and perhaps unknowable schemes.
Jumping from narrative to narrative startlingly often (so much so it is possible to completely befuddle oneself trying to remember faces and occupations), one of the main characters is the inspector in charge of tracking down 'Saucy Jacky', Inspector Abberline, as his mental state and ethics are pushed to the breaking point by the pressure of trying to outwit and catch the killer. I find Abberline to be the human and humane element to the story, concerned not with otherworldly interferences but only with the here and now.
Unusually for a detective story, we are treated to the identity of the criminal immediately after the beginning of the book, and indeed Jack the Ripper himself serves as the second main character. And hoo boy, what a character.
A man possessed of purpose and vision, Sir William Gull, sets about to bring his own personal ascension, delivered to him through the Masonic Grand Architect. Recognising that it is better to be at the right hand of the Devil than in his path, his superiors give him free rein in his bloody work, not fully understanding his quest. Here, at its most basic interpretation, is the man serving as the hand of God; the man who represents the quest for meaning and purpose; the submission to a higher power.
From Hell is not to be tackled lightly. The cramped, spidery and uneven lettering coupled with the seemingly careless black and white illustrations give a powerful impression of claustrophobia, of being trapped in the gloomy, freezing alleys of East London. It is a huge, dense, complex text that will require dedication to see to the end...but that's the case with all worthwhile things on this earth.
I love this book because it raises so many questions about perception and belief through the good Doctor's rationale and justification for his 'great work'. How one's beliefs shape one's worldview and actions, and the purpose and jurisdiction of religious and secular authority are all discussed through Gull's vision of the future.
This masterpiece cannot be summed up in a single, overarching review. It cannot be summed up in a hundred such reviews. Indeed, it is not manifested fully within its very own pages. Like many of Moore's works, the book forms the kernel of an undescribed, unwritten (and perhaps unwritable) vastness: an elemental philosophical point whose ramifications are only fully realised through the intense meditation this text will generate in the days and weeks following its consumption.
A good religious text will do the same.
Comics have that remarkable ability to concisely show a surreal, hallucinatory or fantastical scene (usually as an inner journey or spiritual experience), where a purely prose medium would flounder, and show not wondrously bizarre visions and portents but instead tedious, self-indulgent, unreadable twaddle (I'm looking at you, Mr Stephen "Oh goodness me I'm having such a meaningful and profound series of seemingly unconnected visions" King). From Hell is ostensibly about Jack the Ripper's terrible, terrifying grip on London but also so much more.
From Hell is a trip straight to the heart of the wretched reality of East End, and delivers (at the very least) a two-fold message: just as numerous organisations and individuals manipulate those less powerful than themselves to their own ends, so too perhaps do powerful entities push and prod us here on this material plane to further their own unknown and perhaps unknowable schemes.
Jumping from narrative to narrative startlingly often (so much so it is possible to completely befuddle oneself trying to remember faces and occupations), one of the main characters is the inspector in charge of tracking down 'Saucy Jacky', Inspector Abberline, as his mental state and ethics are pushed to the breaking point by the pressure of trying to outwit and catch the killer. I find Abberline to be the human and humane element to the story, concerned not with otherworldly interferences but only with the here and now.
Unusually for a detective story, we are treated to the identity of the criminal immediately after the beginning of the book, and indeed Jack the Ripper himself serves as the second main character. And hoo boy, what a character.
A man possessed of purpose and vision, Sir William Gull, sets about to bring his own personal ascension, delivered to him through the Masonic Grand Architect. Recognising that it is better to be at the right hand of the Devil than in his path, his superiors give him free rein in his bloody work, not fully understanding his quest. Here, at its most basic interpretation, is the man serving as the hand of God; the man who represents the quest for meaning and purpose; the submission to a higher power.
From Hell is not to be tackled lightly. The cramped, spidery and uneven lettering coupled with the seemingly careless black and white illustrations give a powerful impression of claustrophobia, of being trapped in the gloomy, freezing alleys of East London. It is a huge, dense, complex text that will require dedication to see to the end...but that's the case with all worthwhile things on this earth.
I love this book because it raises so many questions about perception and belief through the good Doctor's rationale and justification for his 'great work'. How one's beliefs shape one's worldview and actions, and the purpose and jurisdiction of religious and secular authority are all discussed through Gull's vision of the future.
This masterpiece cannot be summed up in a single, overarching review. It cannot be summed up in a hundred such reviews. Indeed, it is not manifested fully within its very own pages. Like many of Moore's works, the book forms the kernel of an undescribed, unwritten (and perhaps unwritable) vastness: an elemental philosophical point whose ramifications are only fully realised through the intense meditation this text will generate in the days and weeks following its consumption.
A good religious text will do the same.
dark