Black Dossier

As many of you no doubt know, the long-awaited League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier was released today. I received a review copy and have read roughly two-thirds of what is easily the densest and most complex League tale yet attempted.

Written and drawn in a variety of styles, the Black Dossier is essentially the hidden history of the League and hence the world. In the first 2/3, I discovered the origins of James Bond's boss "M", "Q", Orlando, the very first League, the 1910 German (lead by Dr. Mabuse!) and the 1911 French incarnations of the league. I learned how Mina Murray first met Nemo (remember they are both part of the team in the first issue.) Also, there is an excellent piece on occult history by Oliver Haddo that ties Melniboné, Hyperborea, and the Great Old Ones into our reality. Allusions to 1984 abound. How exactly do Gloriana, Fanny Hill, Harry Lime, and Shakespeare tie into the tale is quite amazing... and let us not forget Wilhelmina Murray and Allan Quartermain. I'm not even done with the book yet.

Thankfully in an attempt to make sense of it all, Jess Nevins has already started his annotations. The accompanying book will be published next Summer from Monkeybrain.

Not that the tome was published without some controversy. Comicscape discusses the controversy, Black Dossier, and the League in general in this fascinating interview.

Though plans are afoot for an Absolute edition, rumor has it that there will be NO paperback version. Since this hardback includes various paper stocks, a Tijuana bible insert, and a 3-d story (including glasses), a paperback would probably be in the $25 range. Given the excellent quality of the art and story combined with the fact that The League of Extraordinary Gentleman stories need to be re-read, at $30 this book is a steal. It will be the best $30 you've spent on a book in a long time.

Expect a more formal type of review soon...

Steampunk: The Anthology

On his blog, Jeff Vandermeer released a rough of the cover to his (co-edited with his wife Ann) forthcoming anthology Steampunk. Contributors include Michael Moorcock, Joe R. Lansdale, Neal Stephenson, Michael Chabon, Mary Gentle, and others. Actually one of the others happens to me. I've contributed an essay about pop culture and steampunk.

Table of contents:

• “Preface,” Jeff and Ann VanderMeer

• “Introduction: The Nineteenth Century Roots of Steampunk,” Jess Nevins

• “Steampunk in Pop Culture,” Rick Klaw

• “Steampunk in the Comics,” Bill Baker

• “Benediction: Warlord of the Air” excerpt, Michael Moorcock

• “Lord Kelvin’s Machine,” James Blaylock

• “The Giving Mouth,” Ian MacLeod

• “A Sun in the Attic,” Mary Gentle

• “The God-Clown Is Near,” Jay Lake

• “The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down,” Joe Lansdale

• “The Selene Gardening Society,” Molly Brown

• “Seventy-Two Letters,” Ted Chiang

• “The Martian Agent: An Interplanetary Romance,” Michael Chabon

• “Victoria,” Paul Di Filippo

• “Reflected Light,” Rachel E. Pollack

• “Minutes of the Last Meeting,” Stepan Chapman

• “Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of the Tribes of the Pacific Coast,” Neal Stephenson

I'm jazzed about this book. Especially after seeing the cover and the people that are in the anthology. The piece I most look forward to is Jess Nevin's "The Nineteenth Century Roots of Steampunk." For the uninitiated, Jess produced the two amazing League of Extraordinary Gentleman companions (Heroes and Monsters and A Blazing World) plus the incredible The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana. Needless to say, Jess knows his stuff.

Look for the book in May, 2008.