“Don’t look surprised. You’re my daughter. And sometimes . . . Sometimes I am sentimental.”
While waiting for Nemo:
Roses of Berlin to be published, I took the time to reread the excellent
first entry in the League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen sub-series focusing on Janni Dakkar, daughter of the original
Captain Nemo. Nemo: Heart of Ice is
as excellent, if not slightly better, with each subsequent read. It was my
third time reading it since it was originally released about a year ago. There
is so much to love and enjoy about that comic but what really throws it over
the top for me is the works on which the main plot is based: a combination of
influences mixing together Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne and H. P. Lovecraft to
name only the most well-known and obvious sources. I also really liked personal
and deeply emotional journey that Janni goes though. The horrors she
experiences in Antarctica had such an impact on her that she’s returned from
her travels a new person, completely changed by the experience. Needless to
say, I couldn’t wait for the follow-up.
Nemo: The Roses of
Berlin is the second in a planned trilogy of comics focusing on Janni
Dakkar, the Captain Nemo of the early 20th Century. It’s a
continuation of the comic and the prose story found in the first volume, the
story of the marriage of Janni and Broad Arrow Jack’s daughter, Hira, and a
French pilot Armand Robur. The year in 1941 and the Nautilus has just raided a
German shipping vessel and they find out that Janni’s daughter and her
son-in-law have been captured and our being held in Berlin. The kidnapping was
done in order to lure Janni and Jack in Berlin so that German’s remaining
Twillight Heroes could carry out their order to kill them. The comic is about the
two-man rescue operation and the secrets that Janni and Jack uncover while in
the city.
Like all the other League
of Extraordinary Gentlemen stories, this one is filled with various
references to other works of fiction in several mediums. The time and place at
which the story occurs allowed for inspiration of sources which we haven’t
witnessed much in the series so far such as the films of German Expressionists.
One character in particular resembles the robot Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Moore also has the clever
idea to use Charlie Chaplin’s Hynkel, from The
Great Dictator, as a substitute for Hitler. As always, Jess Nevins’
annotations are indispensable for the serious League fan. At least, those who care to know every single reference
made in the text. To be honest, I catch on to about a quarter and even that is
generous for some of the most reference heavy volumes such as The Black Dossier. Part of the enjoyment
of reading the annotations is that I get to see how many of them I got correct.
I don’t get all of them right, and that’s fine, but it adds an additional layer
of depth to the work that I rather appreciate even if I probably don’t enjoy it
nearly as much as other fans of the series. One of the best things about the
annotations this time around is the translation for all of the German dialogue.
There was more than what I would have liked but O’Neil really rises to the
challenge to carry the narrative weight on the all-German pages.
In each volume since the trade paperback of the first
mini-series, a prose story has been included with each one of the stories. They
haven’t all had the same degree of success but the ones included in these last
two stories are particularly enjoyable. Perhaps it’s because their focus is
more closely related to the story being told in comic form though The Black Dossier also had plenty of
prose directly related to the story being told in that particular volume. There
reason they’re good is that they’re well written. Moore writes as journalist
Hildy Johnson and her trips to Lincoln Island where she first recounts the
story of Hira and Armand’s wedding and in this latest story, she comes out of
retirement to visit Janni while she and her family celebrate her 70th
birthday. Moore used the text portions to chronicle the events happening
between each issues of Century and he
does the same thing here. He also takes the time to provide additional
information on the other characters, drop a few more references (such as the
Nautilus battling Godzilla during the late fifties) and giving us a big tease
for the next volume. The only thing I don’t like about the prose is just how
few drawings O’Neil does. There are some really awesome things he could be
adding to the mix and I wish he could do more.
I really like these comics. Not only are they a great
continuation of one of my favourite comics by Alan Moore, they’re really great
stories on their own. It’s also great that Kevin O’Neil continues to provide
the art as he’s as he’s an integral part of why I love the series. It’s become
impossible for me to disassociate the characters in this series with their
original versions (be they found in novels or other media). There is a nice
connection to the core League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen series but they present stories and adventures that
are detached from what occurred in the main series. The events of Century and the Nemo stories take place concurrently when you look at the larger
continuity but when you take a closer look you can see how the stories weave
around one another.
More than the others, the Nemo volumes feel and look like important comics. I don’t just say
this because of how the comic looks and feel like European comics. Each of the
volumes is a slim hardcover and contain 50 or so pages. It’s not just a comic,
it’s a work of art, its presentation makes it look important and the story and
art inside back that up. The only advertisements you’ll see here are those
created by the Moore, O’Neil and the rest of the creative team. Though they’re
not as experimental and dense as Black
Dossier, Moore and O’Neil have found what I think is the ideal format for
their series with the Nemo volumes.
There is a pretty strong continuation from Nemo: Heart of Ice. It’s very nice
especially when you stop and consider the less than satisfying flow of the
three 80-page issue of Century. This
strong sense of continuity has been less effective over the last few League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stories
but Moore and O’Neil have both regain their footing. Once again, Janni survives
a gruelling experience and she’s changed because of it. In Heart of Ice she struggled with her father’s legacy but in The Roses of Berlin, it’s her past
accomplishments that came back to haunt her. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen started out as a Victorian
superhero comic but it’s since expanded to bed a universe in which all
fictional characters coexist and the creators have used this as the setting for
some fantastic stories. It’s difficult to express just how appreciative I am
that Moore and O’Neil have gone and created two very personal, emotionally
driven stories in a series that has steadily grown in size and scope since it
first appeared back in 1999. It might only be 56 page long but Nemo: The Roses of Berlin is clearly one
of the stand-out comics of 2014 and I expect the next instalment will be just
as good.
No comments:
Post a Comment