From Hell: A ripping good read

Alan Moore is a legend in the world of comics. He does not draw them, but he writes intricate stories that draw on all sorts of sources. He seems to be a bit of recluse who shuns celebrity and still lives in his home town of Northampton. He has also shown little interest in movies made of his works. I have read some of his works including Watchmen and V For Vendetta as well as his collection of stories Illuminations that features my home town of Bedford.

A while back I picked up From Hell in a second hand book shop. This is based around a series of horrific murders of prostitutes in Victorian London that are associated with Jack the Ripper. The killer was never caught and many theories have been put forward as to their identity. This graphic novel is based on some of those that include a royal scandal and the Masons. I will not give away too many details, but it was also made into a movie starring Johnny Depp. I have seen that, but not for a while and so I cannot confirm how much it differs from the book.

The illustrations by Eddie Campbell are all black and white. Lots of historical characters make appearances and the city of London is also a real character in the story. There is a sequence that tours certain locations that makes me want to visit them, including Bunhill Fields where several notable writers are buried. It makes a lot of Masonic symbolism on churches and many of those still stand.

Even without colour the murder scenes are graphic and try to reproduce what is known of the killings. The area of Whitechapel was pretty rough, but you can imagine that people were scared of what was happening. The press of the day exploited this and probably contributed to some of the myths.

It is a hefty book of over 500 pages. That includes an extensive appendix where Moore details his sources for the story. Those include some official documents, so some scenes are really factual. Others are based on particular theories which may be less realistic. He also made up some scenes to fit the story and it strays into pure fantasy at times to show the state of mind of the killer. A further appendix is an illustrated history of how the story of the Ripper has evolved.

It really is an amazing piece of literary work that is a long way from simple comic stories of good and evil. I can highly recommend it.

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