Before there was CSI: Alan Moore’s From Hell

From HellFrom Hell is my second favorite Alan Moore novel, only surpassed by V for Vendetta. Moore takes the same zealous for research that he used in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and applies to the Jack the Ripper killings. However, it’s more effective in this historical novel. The tale is engaging and Moore’s relentless research makes it more than just another real life, re-told slasher tale. Moore’s notes, which appear at the end of the collected novel, are a wonderful addition to the text and definitely worth the read. (I chose to read them while going through the story itself. As we already know all the “spoilers” for this history, Moore’s notes don’t ruin the story.)

Eddie Campbells’ dark pencils and ink illustrations bring the horror of this tale to life. It’s certainly graphic — both with sex and with the murders themselves — but Campbell’s lines keep the graphic nature a little tamer than it might’ve been. Especially if they’d chose to do From Hell in color. Continue reading “Before there was CSI: Alan Moore’s From Hell”