I recently read LXG for the first time, and I just don't really see the appeal. It's unique in the scale of its literary crossover, but that seems to the cause of its problems: certain characters just don't belong here.
I'm not intimately familiar with the original works of most of the League, but I know Captain Nemo, and this is Character Derailment, at best. He would never aid the British government, and the reasoning provided is flimsy. Apparently, the threat of cavorite-powered bombers poses a threat to him as well as Britain...except it doesn't, he's got the entire ocean to work with, and being able to effortlessly disappear is the whole point of the Nautilus. "But thirty feet below the surface, their power ceases, their influence fades, and their dominion vanishes". No one can reach him, he has no stake in this fight. And now he's apparently a misogynist, and hates Muslims. And instead of cutting all cultural ties, a major aspect of his character, he sports a clear Indian theme. Instead of showing remorse for the lives he takes as a (to him) necessary evil to fight imperialism, now he's a ruthless murderer who wants everyone in Britain dead. Really, he'd have been a better villain than Moriarty.
And Murray. I can't find any good reason for her being the leader. I don't dislike her, but how is she qualified, exactly? She takes everything in stride, but doesn't seem to bring anything to the table. She's mostly just the target of the era's sexism as a woman in a position in power, but why is she in that position? And speaking of that, is there a reason every woman in the story suffers a rape attempt or is sexualized? I know Moore wanted to highlight the misogyny of the time, but he doesn't actually challenge it. Griffin, a serial rapist, is never called out on his actions, nor is anyone else.
So while the story is interesting, and it still has it's high points, I don't think the characters' roles and motivations were thought through very well.
Volume I:
I recently read LXG for the first time, and I just don't really see the appeal. It's unique in the scale of its literary crossover, but that seems to the cause of its problems: certain characters just don't belong here.
I'm not intimately familiar with the original works of most of the League, but I know Captain Nemo, and this is Character Derailment, at best. He would never aid the British government, and the reasoning provided is flimsy. Apparently, the threat of cavorite-powered bombers poses a threat to him as well as Britain...except it doesn't, he's got the entire ocean to work with, and being able to effortlessly disappear is the whole point of the Nautilus. "But thirty feet below the surface, their power ceases, their influence fades, and their dominion vanishes". No one can reach him, he has no stake in this fight. And now he's apparently a misogynist, and hates Muslims. And instead of cutting all cultural ties, a major aspect of his character, he sports a clear Indian theme. Instead of showing remorse for the lives he takes as a (to him) necessary evil to fight imperialism, now he's a ruthless murderer who wants everyone in Britain dead. Really, he'd have been a better villain than Moriarty.
And Murray. I can't find any good reason for her being the leader. I don't dislike her, but how is she qualified, exactly? She takes everything in stride, but doesn't seem to bring anything to the table. She's mostly just the target of the era's sexism as a woman in a position in power, but why is she in that position? And speaking of that, is there a reason every woman in the story suffers a rape attempt or is sexualized? I know Moore wanted to highlight the misogyny of the time, but he doesn't actually challenge it. Griffin, a serial rapist, is never called out on his actions, nor is anyone else.
So while the story is interesting, and it still has it's high points, I don't think the characters' roles and motivations were thought through very well.