The history of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In the fictional The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen universe there have been a number of versions of the League, and in particular in the comicbook the membership of these Leagues were fully explored. The first fictional League was initiated by Queen Elizabeth I recommending that Prospero and found a group of extraordinary individuals. One hundred years later a new group was formed led by Lemuel Gulliver also at the behest of the British government. Another hundred years later Miss Wilhelmina Murray began leading a series of Leagues, at first for the government and then in opposition to them.

17th Century

Prospero's Men

* Prospero, the Duke of Milan, the sorcerer protagonist of Shakespeare's 1611 play "The Tempest".
* Caliban, Prospero's malformed, treacherous servant, also from "The Tempest".
* Ariel, a sprite and air spirit, bound to serve Prospero, also from "The Tempest".
* Christian, a pilgrim Everyman, protagonist of John Bunyan's 1678 novel "The Pilgrim's Progress".
* Captain Robert Owe-much, a British explorer and discoverer of the Floating Island called Scoti Moria or Summer Island, President of the Council of the Society of Owe-Much, and the central character from Richard Head's 1673 book "The Floating Island" (published under the pseudonym Frank Careless).
* Don Quixote, the Spanish aristocrat, from Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quijote de la Mancha.
* Amber St. Clair, the courtesan from Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor.This league collapsed in 1690 when Christian found the "heavenly country" that he was seeking, and thus left this world. Allegedly, Prospero later followed him, as hinted in the "Almanac". Alan Moore said in an interview that he will detail the founding of this league in "The Black Dossier". [ [http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/bakersdozen/back20070103.shtml World Famous Comics >> Baker's Dozen - Bill Baker, Jan 03, 2007 ] ]

18th Century

Gulliver's League

The second league was formed by Lemuel Gulliver and secretly gathered in Montague House, London. They are seen in a picture of the group, dated 1787, shown in Vol. I #2.

* An elderly Lemuel Gulliver, the far-flung protagonist from the 1726 novel "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, seen in the portrait with one of the famous miniature sheep at his feet.
* The Reverend Dr. Christopher Syn, also known as the pirate Captain Clegg, and later known as the Scarecrow, the vicar turned pirate turned smuggler in the "Doctor Syn" novels (1915-1944) of Russell Thorndike.
* Mr. and Mrs. Percy Blakeney from the "Scarlet Pimpernel" novels of Baroness Orczy published in 1905, set in late 1792. Though most assume that this 'Lady Blakeney' is the same character as Marguerite, Sir Percy's wife in "The Scarlet Pimpernel", this grouping takes place several years before the setting of Orczy's novel. As Sir Percy and Marguerite had been married nearly a year at the start of the first novel, this puts the identity of Sir Percy's wife in LOEG into dispute.
* Nathanael "Natty" Bumppo, the hero of the "Leatherstocking Tales" novels (1827-1841) of James Fenimore Cooper, the most famous of which is "Last of the Mohicans". In Cooper's novels he is variously called "Deerslayer", "Hawkeye" and "Pathfinder" as well as several other names.
* Frances "Fanny" Hill, the eponymous heroine of the 1749 erotic novel "Fanny Hill" by John Cleland.

One of the stories in "The Black Dossier" involves this league. [ [http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/bakersdozen/back20070103.shtml World Famous Comics >> Baker's Dozen - Bill Baker, Jan 03, 2007 ] ]

The Pirates' Conference

There was at some point in the 18th century a gathering of pirates. First mentioned in the "Almanac", the details of this gathering were never stated. The pirate Captain Clegg, who gathered this group together, was affiliated with the later league assembled by Lemuel Gulliver.

* Captain Clegg also known as Dr. Christopher Syn, and the Scarecrow.
* Long John Silver. The brutal yet strangely paternal pirate from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island".
* Captain Blood, rumoured to be the greatest buccaneer of them all, from "Captain Blood" by Rafael Sabatini.
* Captain Slaughterboard and his yellow bunkmate. The pirate first appeared in "Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor" by Mervyn Peake.
* Captain Pugwash, the amateur pirate who claimed his name was enough to strike fear into the heart of any sea-faring captain, but was in fact taking credit for work done by his Cabin Boy and fellow league Member Tom. From Eagle Comics and many animated TV shows.
* Captain Hook, archenemy of Peter Pan who lost his hand to a crocodile, from "Peter Pan" by James M. Barrie.
* Captain Pysse-Gumms (Pissgums) of Captain Pissgums and his Pervert Pirates by S. Clay Wilson.
*Two unidentified pirates.

19th Century

Wilhelmina's League

The Victorian "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is led by Miss Wilhelmina Murray (of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula"), recruited for Military Intelligence by one Mr. Campion Bond (who is likely an ancestor of Ian Fleming's James Bond). They meet in the museum that was built on the remains of Montague House.

* Wilhelmina Murray, of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula".
* Captain Nemo, the Indian submariner from Jules Verne's 1870 novels "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", "The Mysterious Island", and "Journey Through the Impossible".
* Allan Quatermain, the elephant hunter and African explorer of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel "King Solomon's Mines" and its various sequels.
* Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".
* Hawley Griffin, also known as The Invisible Man, from the 1897 novel by H. G. Wells. (Moore gave Griffin his first name, that of murderer Hawley Crippen).

This league collapsed during the closing days of the Martian invasion when Campion Bond cut his losses and abandoned the now fractured League, after Griffin turned traitor, which started a series of events that led to the deaths of Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego Edward Hyde, as well as Griffin himself.

20th Century

Wilhelmina's 2nd league

The Almanac hints that another League was led by Miss Wilhelmina Murray, founded after the Victorian league, which she had assembled, collapsed. It was presumably set before the events of "The Black Dossier", probably still answering to Campion Bond and meeting in the museum’s secret vault. They still work for Mycroft Holmes' British Intelligence. This League will appear on the third volume. [ [http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=13 Catalog > Top Shelf Productions ] ]

* Miss Wilhelmina Murray, of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula".
* Allan Quatermain, Junior, a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain from H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel "King Solomon's Mines" and its various sequels.
* , the sex-changing immortal from many works, but drawn most closely from Virginia Woolf's "".
* A. J. Raffles, reformed thief from E. W. Hornung stories.
* Thomas Carnacki, the occult detective from "Carnacki the Ghost-Finder" by William Hope Hodgson.
*Professor Challenger, the palaeontologist from "The Lost World" and its sequels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is mentioned in the almanac as an occasional consultant to Mina's secondly-assembled League.

Other characters who will appear in the third volume include Mack the Knife, charismatic butcher, and Pirate Jenny, furiously angry pirate, both from "The Threepenny Opera". It's not known whether they are villains, secondary characters, associates or members of the League.

Les Hommes Mystérieux (The Mysterious Men)

Les Hommes Mystérieux are the french equivalent of the League similarly composed of "questionable" or criminal individuals. This group was active during the time of Mina's second league. The clash between the two groups was mentioned in the "The New Traveller's Almanac".

* Robur the Conqueror, an insane genius who creates a flying machine, from the books "The Clipper of the Clouds" and "The Master of the World", by Jules Verne.
* Arsène Lupin, a master thief, from the books written by Maurice Leblanc.
* Nyctalope, a superhero created by Jean de La Hire (it was stated that he was shot by "A.J." - who could either be Allan Junior, Anthony J. Raffles or a yet unnamed character - though his condition after that is not made clear in "The New Traveller's Almanac").
* Fantômas, a criminal mastermind created by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain.
* Monsieur Zenith, a pure albino who uses a drug that gives him extraordinary abilities.

Die Zwielichthelden (The Twilight Heroes)

The German version of the League, known as Die Zwielichthelden, or "The Twilight Heroes" was formed around 1909 and based in the "newly constructed Berlin Metropolis" include:

* Dr. Mabuse from a series of novels by Norbert Jacques, as well as the Fritz Lang adaptations The Testament of Doctor Mabuse and others. Mabuse is a criminal genius, gambler and in one Lang film an undying entity who can possess others.
* Dr. Caligari the homicidal mesmerist from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
* Dr. Rotwang along with Maria, the "female automaton" he created. From Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

The Failed 1950s League

The "Black Dossier" has a section about the failed surrogate 1950s League. After Mina and Allan disappeared in America in 1946, MI5 replaced the team with surrogates. As described in The Black Dossier, the team only went on one mission together before they disbanded.

* Peter Brady, The Invisible Man, from the television series "The Invisible Man".
* Professor James Gray, the inventor of The Iron Fish submersible device, who appeared in "Beano". (He is seen as a child in Volume 2.)
* Miss Jane Warralson from the stories by W.E. Johns.
* William Samson, Jr., the Wolf of Kabul, who appeared in "Wizard" and "Hotspur".
* The Iron Warrior and Rodney Dearth. A giant robot and his creator from "Thrill Comics" and "New Funnies".

The 1950s League

By 1958, the League was disbanded by the government and the two remaining members broke into British Intelligence, stole the Black Dossier, and then tried to escape the country while being pursued by a trio of deadly British agents. The agents that pursue the surviving Leaguers (Mina Murray and Allan Quatermain) are:

* "Jimmy", James Bond, the British spy created by Ian Fleming for the novel "Casino Royale" and its sequels
* "Miss Night", Emma Peel, spy and partner of John Steed in The Avengers
* "Uncle Hugo", Bulldog Drummond, adventurer and private detective in a series of novels.

Mina and Allan are assisted in their escape attempt by the Golliwog, the first black member of the team.

In supplementary material that details the League's history, Mina and Allan are described as teaming up with Dean Moriarty, from the novel "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, against the villainous Sachs (Dr. Sax) in America some time before the main narrative.

The 1960s League

Volume Three will have a story set in 1968 with a League led by Wilhelmina Murray who are summoned to investigate a strange cult operating in London's East End and prevent them from making a Moonchild that might well turn out to be the Antichrist. The Top Shelf description suggests 'long term effects' relating to the League's disbanding during the 1950s. [ [http://www.comp.dit.ie/dgordon/League/loeg0023.html The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ] ]

21st Century

The 2008 League

The solicitation for the final issue of Volume Three indicates that, by 2008, the League has gone nearly extinct, except for an apparent member unwillingly trapped in a London mental institution. The Moonchild will have grown to power by this time. Mention has also been made of a Sikh terrorist with a nuclear armed submarine and an ongoing, "intractable" war in Qumar. [ [http://www.comp.dit.ie/dgordon/League/loeg0023.html The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ] ]

References