A review by frasersimons
From Hell: Master Edition by Alan Moore

5.0

Fairly ingenious, this story traces history to a Center stage set of crimes that births, arguably, the Anthropocene unconscious, and the fascination relationship of western culture with death. It morphs into a story about fiction becoming fact and fact becoming fiction, and less about anything reportedly true, though it is undoubtedly pseudo-fact. Appendixes report on the facts and allusions and liberties Moore takes with this work. Then the final chapter traces the evolution of the Ripper theories. Thus this becomes a story that trolls the idea that there is a definitive answer to murders, especially as it pertains to such historical malleable events. That doesn’t mean it has nothing to say. Arguably, it conveys far more than any other murder mystery. It roundly manages to condemn many aspects of bigotry, racism, hate, and imperialism; entertain with a mystery married to philosophy and meta physic wondering, and the very nature of the genre.

At a form and structure and prose craft level, I think this is pretty unparalleled. Even the lettering conveys specific dialects and education levels with grammar and typography and spacing, or even alertness or drunkenness. The panels are engaging, the art grew on me very much. Initially I didn’t like it much at all but—perhaps because this version is also coloured?—it undeniably has a lot of skill and spends time on the things that matter. Some scenes are absolute perfection are the entire thing is extremely cinematic. The structure is intricate but easy to consume.

I don’t agree that it’s a challenging read. It flows well and the allusions at the start are explicit at the end, then even more so in the appendixes, of course. It’s less complex and more interesting than I had initially expected. Absolutely something I’ll pick up and read again.