Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neill
Publisher: America's Best Comics
Plot:
The book opens with Mr. Hyde preparing for a busy day, as he makes his way up to the top of Captain Nemo's submarine, which we see has become hopelessly entangled in a rapidly growing jumble of weeds that have replaced the Thames river. We then follow Mr. Hyde as he makes his way to the Museum which the League had abandoned as their headquarters thanks to the defection of the Invisible Man to the side of the alien invaders, and after Mr. Hyde seals himself inside the Museum, we see he's quite delighted to discover he's not alone. It is here that we learn the Invisible Man has never been invisible to Mr. Hyde, and in response to the savage attack that Griffin made upon Miss Mina, we see Mr. Hyde is ready and willing to return the favor. As Mr. Hyde sets about exacting his revenge upon Griffin, the book looks in on Miss Mina & Allan Quatermain, whose search for a mysterious doctor who might be able to help fend off the Martian invasion, is being slightly derailed by their romantic feelings toward each other. However, when the creations of this mystery doctor make contact with our heroes, we learn the man they are seeking is the infamous Dr. Moreau, and that one of the good doctor's experimental creations may be able to drive off the invaders. Meanwhile back in London, we see Griffin has been killed in a most horrific manner by an almost giddy Mr. Hyde.
Comments:
This issue feature the first death of a member of the cast, and as much as I'd like to say this person's death was a surprise, I had pretty much written this character's name in as the person who wouldn't survive this story, as Mina Murray & Allan Quatermain have played an active role in the text feature in the back of the issues, and these are set after the Martian invasion so their survival is pretty much ensured. The same goes for Captain Nemo whose death I believe has already been established as occurring outside the pages of this miniseries. In fact if I'd been thinking about it I'd have realized that the characters who are fair game when it comes to Alan Moore's decision to kill them off are the characters who he effectively brought back to life, after they had seemingly died at the end of their own books, which had been set before the first miniseries. Now knowing whose head is on the chopping block doesn't completely negate the surprise element, as this issue has our first causality suffering a very unfortunate end, in a manner that can only be described as nightmarish. This death also comes about at the hands of another member of the League, and it acts to nicely reaffirm the idea that while this character may have been cast into the role of a hero in this miniseries, he is very far from being someone that one could consider a hero.
While the situation back in London is far more interesting, the adventures of Mina Murray & Allan Quatermain are interesting enough in their own right. One has to love the almost comedic way that the walking, talking animals are introduced, and there's something rather charming about the idea of Mr. Toad & his fantastic motorized automobile being portrayed in a dark, sinister light. I also have to say that the "Island of Last Souls" stands up as one of my favorite horror films from that genre's classic era, so it's wonderful to see the good Dr. Moreau coming across a man who doesn't quite realize how utterly creepy his world is to the arriving Miss Murray & Allan Quatermain. I also rather like the idea that the British government looks to be an active sponsor of the good doctor's continued experiments, as the dialogue would seem to suggest that they are fully aware of what Dr. Moreau is doing, and what's more they maintain an active interest in what he's creating. The issue also manages to give us a pretty solid look at just how damaged Miss Murray was after her encounter with the Count, and Allan gets a chance to be really quite charming before his horny old man persona makes a quick return. I also enjoyed the incredulous way that Miss Murray acted around the talking animals, especially given what she's encountered thus far during her adventures.
The star of this issue is Mr. Hyde, and the art of Kevin O'Neill is called upon to play up the idea that Mr. Hyde is a sophisticate lunatic. This in turn results in one of the most disturbing moments I've yet to see in the pages of this miniseries, as Mr. Hyde locks himself in a seemingly empty room, and then proceeds to have his vengeance upon the Invisible Man. Now one would think it would be rather difficult to convey the violence of an attack when one can't see the effect the attacks are having, but the calm, casual way that Mr. Hyde carries out his attacks is what makes this scene so effective. The issue also offers up a truly impressive visual display of the violence that Mr. Hyde has committed, when the blood starts to make its appearance. The art also does come nice work on the more sweeping visuals, as we get a pretty good look at what the alien invaders managed to do to the Thames, and our first look at Dr. Moreau is a decidedly chilling visual that nicely tells the reader that he's still quite active when it comes to the more sadistic elements of his experiments. The walking, talking animals are also nicely done, as they are dressed up in cute little outfits, but the art manages to convey the idea that this is a very unnatural state, and there's something rather disconcerting about the panel where we first see Mr. Toad in his car.
Final Word:
It's always nice when a writer is able to throw readers for a loop, and I expect I'm like many readers, in that I had come to see Mr. Hyde in a heroic light, thanks to a rather revealing conversation that he had with Miss Mina in an earlier issue. Plus, the simple fact of the matter is that this issue marks the first time that he's really done something that one could consider truly monstrous in nature. However, this issue does a marvelous job of reminding the reader that Mr. Hyde is not a hero by any stretch of the imagination, and the method that he carries out his revenge upon the Invisible Man is going to stand up as one of the most unsettling moments we've received thus far. Now the alien invasion takes a bit of a back-seat to Mr. Hyde's activities, but we do get a pretty good look at the steps that are being taken to drive off the invasion, and I'm quite curious as to what exactly Dr. Moreau has created that would be able to drive off the invaders.
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