Scan barcode
brandongryder's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting take on Jack the Ripper. Alan Moore has no end to his creativity. Be warned: this graphic novel was indeed graphic.
ridanwise's review against another edition
5.0
Easily the most research-intensive of Moore’s works I’ve so far read. Masterfully balanced and thematically complex.
The Master Edition collects an Appendix of Endnotes detailing every chapter to the page for a better understanding not only of the time period the story is set in, but of the sources Moore used and his perceived credibility of them. However, I noticed it later and lost in a big part of the experience… or so I think?
The thing is, being confronted by the entirety of this work WITHOUT the endnotes is ALSO quite an exhilarating experience!
(I anyways went back to the chapters I wished to get a deeper understanding of and read the notes pertaining)
The Master Edition collects an Appendix of Endnotes detailing every chapter to the page for a better understanding not only of the time period the story is set in, but of the sources Moore used and his perceived credibility of them. However, I noticed it later and lost in a big part of the experience… or so I think?
The thing is, being confronted by the entirety of this work WITHOUT the endnotes is ALSO quite an exhilarating experience!
(I anyways went back to the chapters I wished to get a deeper understanding of and read the notes pertaining)
deartaylorwoods's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ajlct's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
lanternatomika's review against another edition
5.0
Hey, have you read V for Vendetta? Boy was Alan Moore worked up about British society in that book, eh? Oh, were you wondering what Alan Moore would say about British society if he weren't shackled by the standards of a DC Comics imprint? Well, From Hell is your book, but proceed with the most extreme caution!
If you've heard anything about From Hell at all, you know that this is the Jack the Ripper book, but there's so much more to it than that. This is Moore at his most cynical, with not a single shred of faith left in humanity, and you might feel the same way after emerging...from hell!
Hell, it turns out, is Whitechapel in the 1800s. It's where dreams and ambitions go to die, and all you have left is to sell anything you have for a pound or two (which took you a lot further before centuries of inflation), even if that is your body. If you've wound up in Whitechapel, you've basically conceded that your life is worth nothing. You could be brutalized in the most heinous way, your body dumped out in the street, and people would just walk by and inform a cop if one happens to be around.
Or worse, people will turn the scandal of your murder into a spectacle, toying with the press and the police, the latter of whom are only interested in cracking the case so the public would leave them alone. And worse than that, they'll continue to fetishize your murder for centuries to come - the point of Dance of the Gull Catchers, an afterword comic, is the condemnation of Ripperology. And yeah, it's hard to argue with the case Moore makes there!
The things we see in this book happened in Whitechapel in 1800s, but they didn't stop there and then, did they? Jack was just the first in a long line of serial killers, of whom some have been caught, while others, like the Ripper himself, may have gotten away. They could be at large now! A big part of what makes From Hell such a nauseating read is that it's actually well researched and accurate, and it was just the beginning of things that haunt our world to this day.
I've read some messed up books this year, but From Hell takes the cake. In typical Alan Moore fashion, this one is packed with tons of details, on top of just being a phenomenal book. It would probably be rewarding to revisit, but I don't think I'm gonna be going back to hell any time soon.
Before I go, though: I read the Master Edition of this book, which was recolored from the black and white of the original by artist Eddie Campbell himself. I'm only half glad that I read the color version; the recolor adds a lot to the story, but the story is a nightmare, so there's that. I do wish that the book had been taller, though, because Moore's trademark 9 panel grids can feel smushed on these pages, and the scrawly lettering can sometimes be hard to read.
If you've heard anything about From Hell at all, you know that this is the Jack the Ripper book, but there's so much more to it than that. This is Moore at his most cynical, with not a single shred of faith left in humanity, and you might feel the same way after emerging...from hell!
Hell, it turns out, is Whitechapel in the 1800s. It's where dreams and ambitions go to die, and all you have left is to sell anything you have for a pound or two (which took you a lot further before centuries of inflation), even if that is your body. If you've wound up in Whitechapel, you've basically conceded that your life is worth nothing. You could be brutalized in the most heinous way, your body dumped out in the street, and people would just walk by and inform a cop if one happens to be around.
Or worse, people will turn the scandal of your murder into a spectacle, toying with the press and the police, the latter of whom are only interested in cracking the case so the public would leave them alone. And worse than that, they'll continue to fetishize your murder for centuries to come - the point of Dance of the Gull Catchers, an afterword comic, is the condemnation of Ripperology. And yeah, it's hard to argue with the case Moore makes there!
The things we see in this book happened in Whitechapel in 1800s, but they didn't stop there and then, did they? Jack was just the first in a long line of serial killers, of whom some have been caught, while others, like the Ripper himself, may have gotten away. They could be at large now! A big part of what makes From Hell such a nauseating read is that it's actually well researched and accurate, and it was just the beginning of things that haunt our world to this day.
I've read some messed up books this year, but From Hell takes the cake. In typical Alan Moore fashion, this one is packed with tons of details, on top of just being a phenomenal book. It would probably be rewarding to revisit, but I don't think I'm gonna be going back to hell any time soon.
Before I go, though: I read the Master Edition of this book, which was recolored from the black and white of the original by artist Eddie Campbell himself. I'm only half glad that I read the color version; the recolor adds a lot to the story, but the story is a nightmare, so there's that. I do wish that the book had been taller, though, because Moore's trademark 9 panel grids can feel smushed on these pages, and the scrawly lettering can sometimes be hard to read.
lipsandpalms's review against another edition
5.0
The imagination and artwork on display here are sublime. Serious research went into this story. The characters are intricately interwoven to form this, more plausible than most, theory of the identity and events of Jack The Ripper.
jhouses's review against another edition
5.0
From Hell es una barbaridad, una locura, algo desaforado, esperpéntico, valleinclaniano. El el triunfo de la voluntad de Moore de crear Arte a partir de lo más bajo ruin y miserable de la condición humana. Moore toma los brutales asesinatos de Whitechapel de finales del siglo XVIII y, sobre el armazón de la teoría del médico real la masonería y el principe Eddy que ya se ha utilizado en muchos libros y películas constuye un cómic brutal, una obra maestra de erudición, locura y precisión en la que una minuciosa reconstrucción histórica se acopla sobre la más desquiciada ficción que llega a rozar el misticismo y el realismo mágico. Como siempre, una voluminosa documentación al final del libro es la única manera de acercarse a la intención del autor.
La extraña elección de Campbell como artista y su estilo entre naif y minucioso con una dolorosa rotulación que en principio parece lastrar la obra con un aire fancinesco y amateur, se revela como uno de los logos de la obra cuando la magistral locura de Gull se pone en evidencia en el tour de Londres o cuando con toda brutalidad nos
asomamos a la realidad cruda del asesinato de May Kelly. Si ya es un capítulo dificil de leer, cualquier otro estilo lo hubiera hecho imposible.
Esta edición difiere de la original en que se ha coloreado y, aunque lo hace más facil de leer que el original a tinta negra el resultado no es bueno: Por una parte el color se ha aplicado digitalmente por alguien que no domina (o quiere hacer ver que no lo hace) la técnica. Borrones de trazo grueso se montan sin criterio sobre el arte original destruyendo su cuidada atmosfera. Por otra parte el capitulo del asesinato en Miller's Court se vuelve absolutamente insoportable, bañado en el color de la sangre y la viscera (ya era duro pero esto es demasiado).
No es apto para cualquiera es na muestra de lo que puede hacerse en este medio.
La extraña elección de Campbell como artista y su estilo entre naif y minucioso con una dolorosa rotulación que en principio parece lastrar la obra con un aire fancinesco y amateur, se revela como uno de los logos de la obra cuando la magistral locura de Gull se pone en evidencia en el tour de Londres o cuando con toda brutalidad nos
asomamos a la realidad cruda del asesinato de May Kelly. Si ya es un capítulo dificil de leer, cualquier otro estilo lo hubiera hecho imposible.
Esta edición difiere de la original en que se ha coloreado y, aunque lo hace más facil de leer que el original a tinta negra el resultado no es bueno: Por una parte el color se ha aplicado digitalmente por alguien que no domina (o quiere hacer ver que no lo hace) la técnica. Borrones de trazo grueso se montan sin criterio sobre el arte original destruyendo su cuidada atmosfera. Por otra parte el capitulo del asesinato en Miller's Court se vuelve absolutamente insoportable, bañado en el color de la sangre y la viscera (ya era duro pero esto es demasiado).
No es apto para cualquiera es na muestra de lo que puede hacerse en este medio.
barrybj's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
staring blankly at the section asking me about content warnings. all of them i guess?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Mental illness, Child death, Child abuse, Addiction, Sexual content, Misogyny, Violence, Suicide, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Gore, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit and Antisemitism
Minor: Incest and Abortion
mtzfox's review against another edition
5.0
As a fan of the Johnny Depp movie that was based on this, I found myself comparing the different approaches to this story. Considering how Alan Moore's other works have been interpreted on film (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), I was interested to see how much they differed.
While the overall plot hits the same points, the graphic novel is not centered around a central protagonist, but instead displays a wide array of characters existing at the time of the Jack the Ripper murders.
It takes great detail in helping situate the reader in this place in time: a time of secret societies and royal conspiracies, seedy London bars and workhouses, before the modern press, when police had had few tools at their disposal for catching a serial killer. All of this is important because it helps the reader understand why these events were so unique and impacted modern society.
While the film focuses a lot of time on the investigator, his intuition and love interest, the graphic novel is more concerned with telling the story from multiple points of view to theorize why the killer escaped capture and the power dynamics of late 19th century London. Rather than a "big reveal" ending, it establishes from the beginning who the killer is, his character and motivations. Far more of the story is focused on him than the investigator, as well as the circle of women murdered.
The film does touch on many of the same topics in passing, but this graphic novel really weaves a more intricate story of how truly hellish London was at the time, the hopeless lives of "unfortunates" compelled to work the streets, daily worrying about how they would eat or where they would sleep, even as those around them were being butchered.
Be warned, this is quite a bit more graphic than the film, with scenes of unapologetic, gratuitous violence and sex. It doesn't allude to murder, it intricately shows people being carved up and having their organs removed. It doesn't allude to prostitution, it has many extremely raunchy, pornographic scenes of straight and gay sex. Much of this is among the most artistic of the story, but it may be disturbing for some.
As a person who enjoyed the film and can understand why it took artistic liberties for the format, this graphic novel added so much more detail, providing a rich and realistic story that communicates the hopelessness and terror of the time. I'm happy they took the time to re-colorize the novel, and really felt gripped by the historical narrative it presented.
While the overall plot hits the same points, the graphic novel is not centered around a central protagonist, but instead displays a wide array of characters existing at the time of the Jack the Ripper murders.
It takes great detail in helping situate the reader in this place in time: a time of secret societies and royal conspiracies, seedy London bars and workhouses, before the modern press, when police had had few tools at their disposal for catching a serial killer. All of this is important because it helps the reader understand why these events were so unique and impacted modern society.
While the film focuses a lot of time on the investigator, his intuition and love interest, the graphic novel is more concerned with telling the story from multiple points of view to theorize why the killer escaped capture and the power dynamics of late 19th century London. Rather than a "big reveal" ending, it establishes from the beginning who the killer is, his character and motivations. Far more of the story is focused on him than the investigator, as well as the circle of women murdered.
The film does touch on many of the same topics in passing, but this graphic novel really weaves a more intricate story of how truly hellish London was at the time, the hopeless lives of "unfortunates" compelled to work the streets, daily worrying about how they would eat or where they would sleep, even as those around them were being butchered.
Be warned, this is quite a bit more graphic than the film, with scenes of unapologetic, gratuitous violence and sex. It doesn't allude to murder, it intricately shows people being carved up and having their organs removed. It doesn't allude to prostitution, it has many extremely raunchy, pornographic scenes of straight and gay sex. Much of this is among the most artistic of the story, but it may be disturbing for some.
As a person who enjoyed the film and can understand why it took artistic liberties for the format, this graphic novel added so much more detail, providing a rich and realistic story that communicates the hopelessness and terror of the time. I'm happy they took the time to re-colorize the novel, and really felt gripped by the historical narrative it presented.