League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

[Joël of the FoS]

*does the happy dance*

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol III): Century #1
Co-Published By Top Shelf Productions & Knockabout
Top Shelf is proud to announce the all-new installment in the breathtaking series by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill! In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol III): Century #1 ("1910"), our familiar cast of Victorian literary characters enters the brave new world of the 20th century!

CHAPTER ONE is set against a backdrop of London, 1910, twelve years after the failed Martian invasion and nine years since England put a man upon the moon. In the bowels of the British Museum, Carnacki the ghost-finder is plagued by visions of a shadowy occult order who are attempting to create something called a Moonchild, while on London's dockside the most notorious serial murderer of the previous century has returned to carry on his grisly trade. Working for Mycroft Holmes' British Intelligence alongside a rejuvenated Allan Quartermain, the reformed thief Anthony Raffles and the eternal warrior Orlando, Miss Murray is drawn into a brutal opera acted out upon the waterfront by players that include the furiously angry Pirate Jenny and the charismatic butcher known as Mac the Knife. This one is not to be missed!

This book will be the first of three deluxe, 80-page, full-color, perfect-bound graphic novellas, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill -- with lettering by Todd Klein, and colors by Ben Dimagmaliw. Each self-contained narrative takes place in three distinct eras, building to an apocalyptic conclusion occurring in our own twenty-first century. -- 6 5/8" x 10 1/8"
SHIPPING APRIL 2009!
Pre-order League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol III): Century #1$7.95 (US)

[Jonathan Winters]

Hey Joël!

I'm surprised to see this.

BECAUSE Alan Moore is using characters that aren't his. I heard there had been legal issues involved (he can only use them after a 100 years have passed...). I think my comic book guy told me they could only sell them in the USA or something. Not Canada (!).

BUT I will be buying them for sure if I find them!!!

Patrick!

PS: BTW, mercredi le 14 janvier chez Laz pour la prochaine partie. Cos you just keep rudely bouncing my e-mails!

[Manofevil]

I still think it'd be cool if they included the elderly Kwai Chang Caine and son in the lineup.

[Yattara]

Ooh, nice. I wonder when it'll come over here. I adore the first two volumes.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

BECAUSE Alan Moore is using characters that aren't his. I heard there had been legal issues involved (he can only use them after a 100 years have passed...). I think my comic book guy told me they could only sell them in the USA or something. Not Canada (!).

Yeah, U.S. copyright codes are kind of weird, in that everything before a certain date is considered public domain, even if it hasn't been 100 years since the original publication date. I think the cut-off's around 1923 or so -- just a little too soon for Lovecraft's works to be included in the American version of Project Gutenberg, darn it! -- after which the same 100-year limit applies as in most other countries.

Which, depending on whether or not Moore only included characters who date to 1910 or earlier, means it might become legally salable in a lot of other countries next year. Let's hope he was looking ahead, when he decided which characters to steal blatantly and which ones to "mask" for the lawyers' sake, like with "Jimmy" Bond from Black Dossier!