Nemo: River of Ghosts

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.

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.

This is a very disappointing third entry in the Nemo spin-off from Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.River of Ghosts is an incredibly simplistic adventure yarn, although not in any good way. An ageing, terminally ill daughter of the fabled Nemo, sets off, with the most uninteresting and vacuous characters ever let loose upon his readers by Moore, to hunt for and kill the legendary Ayesha. Cue the journey to the confrontation; discovery of her prey and then the final, brief conflict, before the obvious from page 1 conclusion.As a huge fan of Moore's work for over 30 years now, i would love to be able to regale you with the deep, layered and thought provoking meanings and signifiers that are generally characteristic of his best work. I would love to regale you with information on how Moore has constructed interesting characters and has infused every one of them with his trademark wit and the intelligence of his writing. I would love to be able to tell you that despite all the above, there is still an enjoyable story within this book to save its face. Very sadly, none of the above can, even with incredible generosity, be applied to River of Ghosts.In case i did miss anything on my first read through of the book, i re-read it to see if my opinion would change on second reading. Alas no. This reads as if Moore's head and heart have been on anything but Nemo whilst he's been writing this. Indeed, its probably about the closest thing to being a 'hack' piece of writing of his that i can recall from the top of my head. Does he now have a 'Ghostwriter'? This could easily have been an 8 or maybe 12 page tops backup story in another publication. There is just nothing in it to hold the reader's attention and, if you're a long time comics reader, you'll have read more complex and enjoyable story lines in those fill-in stories in the back pages of Marvel's 1960's and 70's annuals and giant-size publications than the one offered here. There is nothing here to justify the format and price of this publication.Of course, this being a rare Moore series entry, there will be a number of apologists who will somehow attempt to construct depth and meaning to it that Mr Moore himself couldn't be bothered to construct in his writing of it. All i can say, is heed them at your peril!!Conversely, no criticism can be directed at the artwork of Kevin O'Neill, who does his usual excellent job, despite what he's been given to work with by Moore. I love his style which i think perfectly suits the worlds of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. There are a few pages here that excel even his impeccably high standards.To conclude, Moore would be as well letting this long standing project die, rather than churning out simplistic, uninteresting dross like River of Ghosts. Plus, he's doing a huge disservice to the talents of his fellow collaborators by handing them something such as this to work with. They're loyalty and previous excellence deserves much better!