The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier is an original graphic novel in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. It was the last volume of the series to be published by DC Comics. Although the third book to be published, it was not intended to be the third volume in the series. Moore has stated that it was intended to be "a sort of ingenious sourcebook", and not a regular volume.

Black Dossier was released on November 14, 2007.

Background and format


Originally referred to as The Dark Dossier during early announcements of its existence, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier differs from the other regular volumes, as it is a self-contained graphic novel designed to be a "sourcebook" for the series. While the first two volumes included prose stories as backup features, the majority of Black Dossier consists of non-comic pieces, taking the form of prose stories, letters, maps, guidebooks, magazines and even a lost Shakespeare folio. Also included is a 'Tijuana Bible' insert and a 3-D section complete with custom glasses. All illustrations are done by Kevin O'Neill, the artist on the first two volumes. Alan Moore also recorded a vinyl record of him singing an original song that would be released with the book, but DC later made the decision to hold back on the vinyl and release it in a special Absolute Black Dossier edition after the first release.

After many changed shipping dates, the Absolute Edition was released with no vinyl record, no script/sketch companion book (something that had shipped with Absolute "League" volumes 1 & 2), and a price point of $99 – $24 higher than the two previous Absolute "League" volumes.

Bill Oakley died halfway through designing the book, so the last half was designed by Todd Klein. The book is dedicated to Oakley's memory.

Development
According to Moore the Black Dossier was created because Moore was uncomfortable with the idea of O'Neill being unemployed during the planned hiatus between Volumes II and III of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Wanting to do a source book for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Moore began writing the Black Dossier. Expanding the original idea to including numerous different prose sections of different styles from a Fanny Hill "sequel" to a beatnik style story and a comic narrative that frames the Dossier sections.

Moore and O'Neill also took the main characters Mina Murray and Allan 60 years in the future out of fear that the Victorian era was already waning in interest. Because many of the characters used in the Black Dossier are not in the public domain, Moore became more creative in alluding to the characters identities but never directly revealing who they were, thus avoiding legal issues with the owners of those characters. For example the character of "Jimmy" is a thinly veiled reference to James Bond; hints to this include owning Campion Bond's cigarette case and lighter, his preference for Vodka Martinis, having a scar from the novels, as well as owning James Bond trademark Walther PPK with 007 engraved on it. The names of other characters are shortened or otherwise changed to mask their origins: Mrs. Peel from the Avengers uses her maiden name throughout the graphic novel, and Billy Bunter is only referred to by his first name.

A DC press release confirmed it would not be released outside the United States "due to international copyright concerns and related issues". This was not an issue with previous volumes, as the Victorian setting meant that the majority of characters that were used were from works no longer under copyright.

Plot
Unlike earlier volumes, the comic book portions of Black Dossier are not set in the Victorian era; rather, they are set in 1958, after the fall of the Big Brother government from Nineteen Eighty Four (the explanation for this discrepancy is that Orwell's book was originally set in 1948, but the dates were changed by the publisher). The frame story sees Mina Harker and Allan Quatermain - now immortal after bathing in the fire of youth from She - on their quest to recover the Black Dossier, which contains the secret history of the now-disbanded League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Out to stop them is a trio of secret agents: inept, brutally womanizing Jimmy, recently orphaned Emma Night, and aging thug Hugo Drummond. The pursuit takes Mina and Allan from London to Scotland, and eventually to the magical Blazing World.



The Black Dossier
As Murray and Quatermain read the dossier, the contents of the dossier interrupt the narrative in different sections. Stories include:
 * "On the Descent of the Gods" an account of the Gods of the League universe, as written by Oliver Haddo;
 * a twenty-five page "Life of Orlando" comic strip which tells the entire life of Orlando from his birth in the City of Thebes in 1260 B.C., up to the Second World War told in the style of a 1950s British comic called Trump.;
 * a faux William Shakespeare play detailing the foundation of the League by Prospero from The Tempest;
 * an imaginary sequel to John Cleland's Fanny Hill with full-page illustrations akin to those that Marquis Von Bayros illustrated for the book;
 * a Bertie Wooster and Jeeves prose story involving one of Great Old Ones from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft;
 * and "The Crazy Wide Forever," a short story written in the style of Jack Kerouac.

Other features include:
 * a picture map of the Blazing World and its location,
 * a cut-away of Nemo's Nautilus Mark II submarine,
 * a series of postcards Mina and Allan sent between the years 1899 and 1913,
 * and profiles of the second 20th century leagues and the group's French and German counterparts.

Reception
Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #2, and praising it as “effing genius.” Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave Black Dossier a 9.5 rating praising the complex detail of Kevin O'Neil's artwork and the literary quality of Moore's writing, whilst criticising the quality of the paper and printing style of the hardcover version and some aspects of the storytelling.

Awards

 * 2007: Won the "Favourite Original Graphic Novel" Eagle Award

Interviews

 * Alan Moore: Inside "The Black Dossier", Comic Book Resources, November 14, 2007
 * Kevin O'Neill Talks "The Black Dossier", Comic Book Resources, November 20, 2007