Literary characters - some obscure, some well known - abound in these graphic novels. The main players (Allan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, and - to a much lesser extent - Mina Harker/Murray) are well established, and the gimmick of putting them together is the initial draw. It took me a little effort to get into the style of faux-1800s dialogue, especially in the narrative boxes, but I quite enjoyed the first volume’s story. It didn’t take itself too seriously, and yet there was a lot of mystery and discovery. Nothing ever really seems to be completely answered, but it gets close enough that you’re satisfied, and the opening for further mystery is part of it’s charm.
Volume two was much more straight-forward - not a lot in the way of mystery or intrigue. That would have gotten in the way, apparently, of the violence and the sex. And given that this story was, in many ways, centered on the simple, straight-forward, violent character of Hyde, I suppose that makes sense.
There was a lot of Hyde in this book. Hyde’s a bad dude. A bad, baaaad, dude. Don’t mess with Hyde. Seriously. Even if you’ve got a nasty heat ray. And hiding from Hyde’s not really an option either. Best to not get on his bad side. That’s pretty much the message I got from this book. Loud and clear.
Aside from the voyeurism of the book, though, I gotta say the story wasn’t as compelling as the first volume. Even some of the surprises at the end were not that impactful. I also think Mina, and to some extent Quartermain, were underused, despite having a large number of pages dedicated to them. Neither were really used for the talents that made them interesting as characters.
Did I mention Hyde’s a bad dude? I was forewarned that something was going to happen with him, and still had a “whoa” moment when I realized what was going on…
This one definitely ain’t for the kiddies.
Technorati Tags: jekyll and hyde, vampires, comics, literature
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