Ichabod: the glory is departed
Apr. 10th, 2014 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustBuying the Top Shelf edition of The Bojeffries Saga makes the third time I have bought some of these stories: I already own many of them in Warrior, and the 1992 collection from Tundra. And I don't care - they still make me laugh. Words by Alan Moore, from those golden days when he still thought writing comics was worth doing, pitch-perfect art by Steve Parkhouse - and since there is no separate lettering credit, presumably Steve Parkhouse did that, too, and it's worth saying so, because it is wonderful.
I've always had a soft spot for Ginda Bojeffries, the daughter of the family. How could you not love someone who yells at the unwary stranger who has addressed her as 'young lady': "I am NOT a 'young lady'! I am a PERSON! - I have thoughts and feelings TOO, you know! - You find the idea of a female who can cause nuclear explosions by squinting up one eye threatening to your manhood, DON'T you?" and ends up slamming the door in his face with a cry of "And don't come back until you're PROPERLY EVOLVED!"
As you see, this isn't a review. I know my limitations, and the nearest I could come to a review would be quoting all my favourite bits - and that's not fair to anyone.
Yesterday I read a friend's copy of Nemo: The Roses of Berlin, the latest bulletin from the world of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Kevin O'Neill's artwork is gorgeous (if you can look at the scarlet pages and see the glorious colours rather than the blood and flames) and the book itself is a handsome object. But the story is a grotesque parody of a Boys Own yarn, a prop for all the clever allusions, not so much a story as a crossword puzzle. It's a challenge to the reader: can you stomach the violence? well, then, can you recognise all these cultural allusions? Think you're so clever, do you? All right, then, can you read German? Yes, I can, up to a point, and I did, but I didn't get much out of it.
The one new story in the Bojeffries collection, After They Were Famous, also requires the reader to decipher some of the speech, as accents are rendered phonetically (hyper-phonetically? and how would Moore's own voice look, given this treatment?). I didn't like it very much. It has some funny moments, but not enough of them or funny enough. Its depiction of the modern day reminded me of the end of LOEG: Century, which I didn't like either, finding it petty and mean-spirited. Or perhaps I just don't like who Ginda Bojeffries has turned into.
But that's not what I set out to say. The good stuff is still good, that's the main thing. In fact, I had forgotten just how good it is.
I've always had a soft spot for Ginda Bojeffries, the daughter of the family. How could you not love someone who yells at the unwary stranger who has addressed her as 'young lady': "I am NOT a 'young lady'! I am a PERSON! - I have thoughts and feelings TOO, you know! - You find the idea of a female who can cause nuclear explosions by squinting up one eye threatening to your manhood, DON'T you?" and ends up slamming the door in his face with a cry of "And don't come back until you're PROPERLY EVOLVED!"
As you see, this isn't a review. I know my limitations, and the nearest I could come to a review would be quoting all my favourite bits - and that's not fair to anyone.
Yesterday I read a friend's copy of Nemo: The Roses of Berlin, the latest bulletin from the world of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Kevin O'Neill's artwork is gorgeous (if you can look at the scarlet pages and see the glorious colours rather than the blood and flames) and the book itself is a handsome object. But the story is a grotesque parody of a Boys Own yarn, a prop for all the clever allusions, not so much a story as a crossword puzzle. It's a challenge to the reader: can you stomach the violence? well, then, can you recognise all these cultural allusions? Think you're so clever, do you? All right, then, can you read German? Yes, I can, up to a point, and I did, but I didn't get much out of it.
The one new story in the Bojeffries collection, After They Were Famous, also requires the reader to decipher some of the speech, as accents are rendered phonetically (hyper-phonetically? and how would Moore's own voice look, given this treatment?). I didn't like it very much. It has some funny moments, but not enough of them or funny enough. Its depiction of the modern day reminded me of the end of LOEG: Century, which I didn't like either, finding it petty and mean-spirited. Or perhaps I just don't like who Ginda Bojeffries has turned into.
But that's not what I set out to say. The good stuff is still good, that's the main thing. In fact, I had forgotten just how good it is.
