Membership: Dr. Henry Jekyll
/ Edward Hyde; Captain Nemo;
Allan Quatermain; Mina
Murray; Hawley Griffin
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
For centuries whenever England (and latterly Great Britain) has been threatened, it has called upon gatherings of its greatest and most unique individuals, brought together to defend their homeland.
The 1890's League - comic version - the first one seen and still the main one.
Membership: Dr. Henry Jekyll
/ Edward Hyde; Captain Nemo;
Allan Quatermain; Mina
Murray; Hawley Griffin
Purpose: To protect and defend Britain and its Empire
Affiliations: Campion Bond (government liason); Professor Moriarty (a.k.a. M, their boss); Mycroft Holmes (replaced Moriarty as M once Moriarty had been exposed), Doctor Moreau
Enemies: Fu Manchu; Professor Moriarty, the Martians
Base of Operations: The Secret Wing of the British Museum, London
First Appearance: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1 (America's Best Comics)
History: In the early 1890s Professor Moriarty, a.k.a. M, was Head of British Intelligence. Although a loyal servant of the crown, he was also a crimelord who ran much of the underworld. But when his only serious rival, a Chinese crimelord known as "The Doctor" (see Fu Manchu) stole the lighter-than-air metal, Cavorite, M needed to bring together a very special team of operatives to recover it before his enemy could utilise it against him. Through his agent, Campion Bond, he recruited several singular individuals (see individual entries) who successfully managed to sneak into the Doctor's base under the Thames near the Limehouse, grab the Cavorite and then fight their way out. However when they discovered the true identity of their superior, and that he planned to use the Cavorite himself to launch an aerial attack against the Doctor's forces, the League took it upon themselves to bring Moriarty down...literally. In the aftermath, the League were contacted by Mycroft Holmes, who had replaced Moriarty as M, and asked to continue to work for the British government. With some misgivings, they acquiesced.
Almost immediately the League were sent to check out reports of a meteorite landing in southern England. This turned out to be the first stage in a full scale Martian invasion of Earth. At first Captain Nemo's advanced technology proved nearly a match for the invaders, but Griffin, the Invisible Man, turned coat and allied himself with the Martians, giving them a way to immobilise the Nautilus. While Nemo and Hyde fought to delay the aliens, Quatermain and Mina were sent to retrieve a weapon from a reclusive scientist. The scientist turned out to be geneticist Dr. Moreau, who was creating bizarre hybrids at his country hideout. Given a box said to contain a particularly deadly hybrid, the two League operatives returned to London. While they had been gone, Hyde had located the Invisible Man hiding within the League's base, and brutally killed the traitor in a manner so disgusting it sickened the honourable Nemo to the core. However personal dislikes had to be put aside as the Martian war machines marched through London itself. To hold the Martians long enough for Moreau's hybrid to be deployed, Hyde took on their tripods single-handedly, sacrificing his life to buy time. Unleashed, the hybrid proved to be a killer virus. It stopped the invaders, but would claim many innocent lives as well. Disgusted at the use of this abomination, Nemo quit, and Mina, needing time to decide what to do with her life, also departed; with only Quatermain remaining, the conclusion of the War of the Worlds also effectively marked the end of this League.
Comments: While the individual characters had numerous creators (see individual entries), the concept of the League itself was the creation of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill - although it's fair to say they weren't the first to come up with alliances of Victorian era characters.
It was established in the second volume of adventures that the reason the (H.G.Wells') Martians invaded Earth was because they had been driven from their homeworld by an alliance of other Martians led by two Earthmen, John Carter, Warlord of Mars, and Gulliver Jones.
One of the very best sites devoted to the League in all its incarnations can be located here.
The 1890's League - cinema version
The movie version of the 1890's League - (l to r) Jekyll, Gray, Nemo, Quatermain, Harker, Skinner, Sawyer
Membership: Dr Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde; Dorian Gray; Captain Nemo; Allan Quatermain; Mina Harker; Rodney Skinner; Tom Sawyer.
Purpose: To protect and defend Britain and its Empire
Affiliations: former Sanderson Reed, M
Enemies: The Fantom, Sanderson Reed, Dante
Base of Operations: The Nautilus
First Appearance: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (a.k.a. LXG, 20th Century Fox, 2003)
History: Gathered together at the behest of M, ostensibly to stop a criminal genius known as the Fantom, but in reality so that M, who was the Fantom, could steal the powers that made them unique. They prevented the Fantom from sinking the city of Venice during a peace conference, and thus plunging Europe into war, but a traitor within their numbers escaped with purloined samples of technology and genetic material. The League pursued their enemies to Mongolia, where the Fantom maintained a hidden fortress. The Fantom died before he could escape and use what he had obtained from them to start a world war, but not before the League suffered a terrible loss, when theur leader Allan Quatermain was fatally wounded. The survivors returned Quatermain's body to Africa, and inspired by his sacrifice, agreed to stay together for the good of the world.
Comments: One of the very best sites devoted to the League in all its incarnations can be located here.
The 1780's League
Membership: Lemuel Gulliver; the Scarecrow; the Scarlet Pimpernel; Hawkeye; Lady Blakeney; Fanny Hill
Purpose: To protect and defend Britain and its Empire
Affiliations: Unknown
Enemies: Unknown
Base of Operations: probably The Secret Wing of the British Museum, London
First Appearance: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (America's Best Comics)
History: Unknown.
Comments: One of the very best sites devoted to the League in all its incarnations can be located here.
CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with
The Justice League of America, D.C. Comics greatest heroes
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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