By Moore & O’Neill
Publisher: Knockabout/Top Shelf
ISBN: 9780861662333
River Of Ghosts gives us the third outing of the original Captain Nemo’s daughter, Janni, as she maintains her father’s legacy. As with all the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen books, it’s jam-packed full of literary and cultural references, this time featuring everything from the Creature From The Black Lagoon to Desperate Dan. There’s even Squiddly Diddly.
It’s now 1975 and Janni is now in her advanced years. Despite building a strong power-base she is haunted by the past and what just may be a resurrection of Ayesha. Determined to take the fight to Ayesha directly, and against the wishes of her daughter, Janni takes the Nautilus to the Amazon delta, but not before employing the services of a bodyguard. The journey takes them into Professor Challenger territory before arriving at a secret Nazi base overlaid with a grand helping of Russ Meyer.
As always, Alan Moore’s insatiable appetite for detail coupled with Kev O’Neill’s fantastic artwork make for a superb read, with plenty of opportunities, should you want them, to explore the references both visual and written. Coghlan’s character is a very welcome addition, bringing something stupendously extraordinary to the book that’s been missing since the first two volumes, so I’m really hoping we see some more of him in future tales.
The door is left open for another generation of Nemo stories, but whether or not Moore and O’Neill choose to go down this route remains to be seen. Regardless, there’s plenty here to keep you amused.
And don’t forget to look out for Squiddly Diddly.
And if you liked that: If you can find it try Metalzoic
No comments yet.