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A review by mtzfox
From Hell: Master Edition by Alan Moore
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.