Nemo: River of Ghosts

The Creature from the Black Lagoon... Dinosaurs... goose stepping naked fembots...Cow-pies. Yep... ticks all my boxes this one. River of Ghosts Finds Captain Janni, daughter of the original Captain Nemo, obsessing over the re-emergence of Ayesha ( Y’know the ‘She Who Must Be Obeyed’ one) whom she personally decapitated in a previous volume and so had (quite reasonably) therefore assumed herself well rid of. Her compatriots suspect that she might be cracking up in her old age “Just like my father before the end.” comments Uschi Mabuse at one point.This volume introducing some new characters, the main one being Nemo’s body guard, the very big and ridiculously strong Hugo Coghlan. who might (or might not) be the ancient Celtic hero Cuchulainn (and who’s previous assignments include knocking off Hugo Danner at the behest of Doc Savage’s dad.) This strapping gentleman it transpires has sired a number of children out of wedlock including Desperate Dan (and, I suspect, his DNA might have eventually meandered into Captain Hercules Hurricane as well, who seems to be very much a chip off this particular old block.) By the climax of the story Janni’s suspicions have been proven correct and she dies vindicated, enthroned atop a pile of defeated enemy corpses and surrounded by the ghosts of her life’s companions.( a good send off for any super villain) in an epilogue taking place some twelve years later it appears the next generation of science pirates is off to a good start. It seems being a super villain runs in families in the LXG (L.E.G Let’s get it right.) world. parents being a bad influence and what not. A great little comic book. Kevin O'Neill's artwork is, as usual, excellent. instantly recognisable exuberant cartooning, gleefully ignoring how anyone else might be drawing comics.Best line “Hira, you know she’s tactically deaf.” I know a couple of old ladies like that myself.

A fitting end to the Nemo trilogy and this time I didn't have to use any translation tools (as per Roses of Berlin) and pinged most of the literary and movie references without resorting to the internet. An exciting read that made me laugh out loud on a pair of occasions and has left me wanting more from the world of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (hopefully the inside-back-cover image is a hint of things to come).

Third and final volume in the Nemo series of graphic novels. Which are a spin from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series - tales set in a world where all the fictional heroes and villains we know are real - and whilst this might work ok as a stand alone read, you will be better off having read all that came before to get the most from this. So start with the first volume of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen if new.If not, read on.This is a complete and self contained story in one volume, and as mentioned in the last in this series, which tells the further exploits of Captain Nemo's daughter Janni.It is as with the rest of these for mature readers only, thanks to strong language adult moments and violence.It as with other volumes is cleverly formatted like a product of it's time, with an index page akin to a lurid true stories magazine of the 70's.In the story, it's now the 1970's, and Janni is a very old woman. Having outlived many friends crew and loved ones. Who she hasn't forgotten. But she has one bit of unfinished business. Despite the protests of all around her, she is determined to finish it. A journey into a strange land awaits. Will it be her last voyage?This is a strong character piece, showing someone at the end of their time with the weight of a long life behind them. With pressures put on them by those who will follow. And it works really well in showing this. It also works nicely as a fantastical adventure, with excellent art from Kevin O'Neill as ever. Showing fantastical lands and people.There are some interesting appearances from incredibly obscure fictional characters. And an ending that does a great job of wrapping the trilogy up and being an ending that will stick in the mind for a while.A good read. Great art. And a good end to this trilogy. Well worth four stars.

Once again Alan Moore puts literary classics into the blender and creates a wholly original tale. Art work by O'Neill is excellent. The result is a fun, erotically charged mystery. Long may Moore and ONeill continue their collaborative reign.

At this point the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and spin-off) books are really just whirlwind tours of obscure popular culture with barely a story to speak of.I suppose Alan Moore is having fun with the research, but I only get about half of the characters he's name-checking (the Pink Child? Hugo Hercules?) and what story elements there are are just repeated tropes. The haughty character taken down by weapons tech, for instance. That happened to Ingrid Weiss in Tom Strong and happens (twice) to Ayesha here. Hugo is basically a slightly less uncouth Mr Hyde. The repeated gimmick is that a character turns up who is tough and gritty and then we discover they're actually Mary Poppins -- or whoever. If not for Kevin O'Neill's artwork I'm really not sure I'd bother.I would have been interested to see the further adventures of Jack now he's become Nemo, but other than the brief appearance in 2009 I guess "that's all he drew".

An excellent end to Moore's 'Nemo' trilogy. It cleverly melds elements from 1960s and 1970s horror and exploitation movies with much earlier characters, including a very obscure forerunner to Desperate Dan! Recommended as long as you like Moore's 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' stories.

Fantastic continuation of the League-verse. You need to read this.