2000 AD Online Forum

I was going to bump an old thread but this P.C. and the website don't like each other much.

Anyway, it's worth a new thread, right?

Link: Clicky linky spoily.

Oh baby!

Oh crikey, I need a lie down now after seeing that.
Words can't express how much I'm looking forward to this book.
Kev does a nice line in spooky mansions!

 i personally thought LOEG 2 was pony - will wait for reaction to 3 before purchase

I read The Island Of Dr Moreau last year and didn't think about Rupert once :)

Comics drove me to read classic Victorian literature. You scum, Moore and O'Neil!

Really looking forward to this.

Loving the artwork but that's a really crappy font used there, not quite comic sans but not far off!!

Is there a release date?

I heard that it won't be available over here? copyright reasons? And I sooo want this!!

"Comics drove me to read classic Victorian literature."

Funny, I kind of came about things in the opposite direction.

So there would be references to the likes of Billy Bunter (Greyfriars, I believe, was his alma mater), 1984, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure and Voice of the Fire, as well as John Locke and Philip Larkin - anyone else got any more?

This really isn't going to be very good, is it?

It's a dossier, and it's black...
... and it's so not available outside of US!

Link: As reported here.

Link: Alan Moore denigrated by a much better comics crea

But then he took that formula and just kinda did that same thing, I mean, Tom Strong is Supreme

I have no words for how wrong that statement is.

The van driver Albert is a Sexton Blake-ish reference

I was already into Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson, but L.O.E.G. sent my reading habits in directions I never would have dreamed of, I'll always be grateful to them for that.

It's not as good as Youngblood though, is it?

Link: Live Now Pay Later

â??You havenâ??t lived until youâ??ve heard Alan describe the heroes â?? this is in the near future â?? getting trapped in an amusement park in Compton, where one of the rides you go on is a drive-by shooting.â?

I am fucking there.

Is Rob Liefeld bitter because Moore insinuated that he was lazy and not very good at drawing?

*** itâ??s flattering that he found his groove back with us and started winning awards back with us because people forget, heâ??d fallen off the map, you canâ??t really find a great Alan Moore book from â??90 to like â??96, when he did Supreme, even the stuff he did for Todd [McFarlane] was derided like he was asleep at the wheel,***


So he obviously isn't aware of From Hell then?, Moore was off the mainstream comics map out of choice, not ability. What a dick Liefeld is turning out to be.

Is Rob Liefeld bitter because Moore insinuated that he was lazy and not very good at drawing?

Or it might a broader problem and have something to do with the fact that he's the spit of The Yellow Kid.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa...slow down.

What's this about Black Dossier not being avalable in the States? That LITG column that was linked didn't have anything about that and this is the first I've heard of it.

What's the real scoop here?

What's this about Black Dossier not being avalable in the States?

Wrong way round - it's not (easily) available outside the States.

So there would be references to the likes of Billy Bunter (Greyfriars, I believe, was his alma mater), 1984, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure and Voice of the Fire, as well as John Locke and Philip Larkin - anyone else got any more?

Unless I'm very much mistaken (displaying my 1950s geek credentials here), the 'num yum' billboard in the first pic is from the film 'I'm alright Jack', with Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael and Terry Thomas.

God, this must be mine. I don't care how much it costs me to import. All my reading for the last two years has been things sprung off the back of LOEG, little gems that I would never have normally picked up - The Beetle, The Third Policeman, She, and a whole ton of pulp stuff.

It's an interview, and it's interesting.

Link: Read me, big boy!

"the 'num yum' billboard in the first pic is from the film 'I'm alright Jack', with Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael and Terry Thomas."

Oh well spotted, hats off to you on that one! Now who noticed the homage to fellow Boulting Brother film Havens Above!...?

I assume you're being sarcastic Dudley. If not, do tell. It looks alright to me, although I prefer the art on the earlier LOEG

who is Rob Liefeld?

What's the best current advice for getting hold of a copy?

It's out this wednesday. You can get it sent from the US via ABE books. It's about £15 plus another £12 postage.

That's robbery, I got it for â?¬23, incl. shipping, via ebay from collector's universe in NY.

Got mine for £16.95 postage included, off ebay from Limited Editions. I check the release date every day just in case it's been delayed again.

Um, I have ordered mine from Gosh! comics in London.

Got an email from Limited Eds saying It'll be in stock on the 18th. Can't wait!
Also, there's a 3 page preview of Volume 3 of the league in the Top Shelf sampler book.

What's this about Black Dossier not being avalable in the States?

Wrong way round - it's not (easily) available outside the States.

WTF? why not?

What's this about Black Dossier not being avalable in the States?

Wrong way round - it's not (easily) available outside the States.

WTF? why not?

WTF? why not?

Cos of the differences in US and UK copyright law - a lot of the characters used, that have become public domain in the USA, are still protected by law over here.

Cos of the differences in US and UK copyright law - a lot of the characters used, that have become public domain in the USA, are still protected by law over here.

Bugger!

You could get it from Amazon.COM

Total cost is about $30 (£15?) at the moment.Bit of a wait for delivery, mind...

M.

"Cos of the differences in US and UK copyright law - a lot of the characters used, that have become public domain in the USA, are still protected by law over here."

Though it's been suggested that this may just be a half-truth conveniently used by DC.

"Got mine for £16.95 postage included, off ebay from Limited Editions."

Have you got a link for that, Ben?

No problem Ed.
I think you're right about it being a half-truth. That interview linked to above is very revealing. I can see the end of Wildstorm in the near future, and it'll be DCs own damn fault for all the ridiculous decisions they've made over the last few years.

Link: ooh!

If you look through their other items there's a variant cover edition too, for the same price. I wasn't bothered either way I just want to read the bastard!

Cheers, Ben!

Variant covers though...tsk, what do they think I am, the Aga Khan...?

" can see the end of Wildstorm in the near future, and it'll be DCs own damn fault for all the ridiculous decisions they've made over the last few years."

Judging by the recent debacle of the protracted firing of Scott Dunbier, it sadly seems that they're rapidly pissing away any goodwill that they might have one had.

Floyd -

Metafiction isn't big or clever when done for its own sake.  LOEG I took some classic characters from supernatural fiction with, essentially, superpowers that fitted them well for the comics medium.  The characters of Mina Murray and Allen Quartermain were both rather underdone and did not really advance the way the characters were portrayed in the source novels.  

The Black Dossier sounds awfully like it's going to develop further along the lines of that dreary text part at the end of LOEG II, which really shows up all Moore's weaknesses as a writer: wordiness, lack of control, etc.  These weaknesses don't hurt when he's scripting comics, as there is a collaborator shaping his vision.  But it seems to me from the advance previews that he's now been given his head, and the result will be a book that will be rather more of a trainspotting than a literary experience.  And the idea of sub-Kerouac is just chilling...

Agh!! no funds in paypal account, will have to wait about two weeks before ordering this from ebay... no doubt they'll all be sold out by then!

Bugger.

My mate's the manager at FP in belfast and he says they are not allowed to even attempt to order it, I assume anyone caught selling it over the counter will be liable to some law or such.

"The characters of Mina Murray and Allen Quartermain were both rather underdone and did not really advance the way the characters were portrayed in the source novels. "

I'm not familiar enough with the Quartermain books to comment,  but Mina Harker has possibly the most development of any of the characters, Hyde excepted.  Dudley might have a point re: LoEG 1, but adding Vol 2 to the mix and you have some pretty solid journeys for everyone.  

Dudley -

Thanks for that.  I'd been thinking that LOEG was popular with one and all, so wasn't sure if you meant it or were just saying it would be terrific in a roundabout way.
   I quite agree that metafiction doesn't justify itself just by being metafiction...and the text story at the end of LOEG II was certainly just a bit of 'Christ I'm clever' ness* that wasn't particularly interesting.  
   I liked the characters being underdone myself -  I hadn't read the originals (should I?) but I enjoyed the restraint.
  I found 'on the road' one of the most overrated books I've ever encountered, so the idea of sub-Kerouac doesn't thrill

cheers,

Floyd






*I guess that should be "Glaucon I'm clever ness"

Blimey Dudley, I thought you were being sarcastic when you said it isn't going to be very good!
Each to their own of course, but I'm hoping it's going to be a fun experience rather than a trainspotting one.

Why's and wherefores of the legalities are listed on LITG tonight

Link: Linky

Great LITG this week! Some juicy stuff about Black Dossier, making it sound like a personal beef between Paul Levitz and Alan Moore.

There's also a priceless John Byrne anecdote about his Aquaman action figure!

Anyone know what's happening with this? Did it come out on the 14th? Doesn't seem to be in stock on american amazon.

No sign of my copy yet, but theres suddenly shitloads of copies on eBay, so I'm hoping that means it really does exist!!!

My plan to order it before Amazon worked out they shouldn't sell it has failed.  It worked with Lost Girls, but I think I simply ordered the wrong version or I was too late.

Still, I'm sure I'll get it eventually, by hook or by crook.

If anyone else ordered it from Limited Editions you may be interested to here that they e-mailed me to say they are shipping out copies to anyone who pre-ordered Mon,Tues and Weds this week.  

yep I got the e-mail from Limited Editions too, it really exists, and it's in the country! It shall be mine this very week.

Anyone got this yet?

When is the release date?

I know that anyone outside of the USA who has ordered it from amazon.com won't be receiving it until the New Year because the full print has sold out in the US.

Got my copy today!

So Krusti that was, is it disapointing self-indulgent metafiction, not bad, a bit of a giggle, sheer genius or something else?

It's brilliant, Floyd.  It's one of the best things Alan's ever come up with.

Link: Amazingly amazing.

I'm hoping mine will turn up today! I've been saying that since tuesday though.

Got my copy today!

Where did you order it from??

There's a load on ebay but not sure how long I'll have to wait to get it..

Should I just go ahead and order anyway??

I think my sister has bought me this for Xmas.

Woo & hoo!

Picked a copy up when I was over in San Francisco.  Mighty fine stuff - although a few of teh text pieces have a tad small font.

Dan

Just got one off ebay at just under £20.

Is that a reasonable price??

Well I got mine from Gosh! comics for £16.99, but I had to ask for it (it wasn't on the shelves), so I would say it was about right. You're paying for 3D GLASSES here people.

It's fantastic! Loads of references as usual and there's no doubt that it has a very high trainspotter geak factor if that's your thing but it also has a great chase narrative that runs along at a cracking pace and is loads of fun.

Should have mine by end of the month...

Think I'll keep for a good christmas read, after dinner, mulled wine, the boy in bed, quiet house... ahh yes.


Can't wait.

any peeps here in australia ("ding dong, the wicked witch is dead!:) ) seen this through diamond yet?

i've wet my knickers!

Irish types please note that the stout fellows at Sub City, Dublin, have a healthy supply on open shelves for â?¬35.  

And by jiminey is it just about the best thing I have ever laid eyes on, and cetainly the best thing Moore has done in a very long time - since Voice of the Fire, probably.  Just incredibly rich and funsome.  

You know you're on to a winner when you actually groan with disappointment to find that a facsimile-edition Shakespeare pastiche only stretches to one Act.  More, Moore, more!  And I haven't even got to the 3D glasses or the Tijuana bible!

Reading tip:  take the dust cover off to reveal the beautiful fake leather binding for a reading-the-dossier-about-reading the-dossier self referential weird-out!

Quick question ... I've not been keeping up with Moore's work of late. Does this work as a standalone piece, or do I need to have been following the preceding books?

Cheers

Jim

***And by jiminey is it just about the best thing I have ever laid eyes on, and cetainly the best thing Moore has done in a very long time - since Voice of the Fire,***


Not sure that's a good thing since Voice of the Fire is a hard slog and a completely different style of work, not always rewarding either, but I'm sure the Black Dossier is excellent.

Jim - Bearing in mind that I haven't finished it yet,  I'd have to say it's not really a standalone piece.  In fact, I suspect it works best if you've already battled through the text-piece appendices of the first two volumes of LoEG.  On the flip side, it might work rather well as an introduction to the earlier works, as the main project (so far) appears to be giving the fiction-mash world an (excellent) overall structure.  Still, if you haven't read LoEG Volumes 1 and 2, you should do so immediately!

garageman - I'm a huge fan of VotF, and I'd have to say there are parallels: snippets in different formats from different periods all working aorund the same themes.  On the other hand, the Dossier has the delicious whiff  of a Master showcasing his craft, as opposed to the quite tentative steps Moore takes as an author in VotF.  

***garageman - I'm a huge fan of VotF, and I'd have to say there are parallels: snippets in different formats from different periods all working aorund the same themes. On the other hand, the Dossier has the delicious whiff of a Master showcasing his craft, as opposed to the quite tentative steps Moore takes as an author in VotF.***

VotF also doesn't have Kev O'Neill who is half of the League's success. I appreciate VotF for it's lucid parts but it ain't as good as Moore's comic work, the same applies to his music projects.

As regard themes in Moore's work, well basically everything he does contains the major themes, in some form, he has explored for the past 20 years

Moore is always at his best when in collaboration with visual artists.

it ain't as good as Moore's comic work

I'd agree in part - VotF isn't as good as his better comics work, but it's better than a lot of his lighter stuff (Supreme, 1963, Tomorrow Stories).  

It's just arrived!!!1 Havn't even opened it yet, will save for later when I have a bit of quiet time.

Hussa!

I thought there was a record with this.

Am I missing something here or did the record not get done??

3D glasses yes, flexi disk no.

Anyone get a record?

The record may or may not come with the Absolute edition that may or may not come out next year. It was a casualty of the feud I think. It's a shame.

Finally finished it late last night, with a weekend re-read already scheduled.  Incredibly dense artefact, and completely fantastic from start to finish - too much to take in even over the span of a week.  I hope my 3D glasses can stand it.

IMHO, this is one of Moore's Great Works.

Now I want the missing record, which is annoyingly referred to in the text of the book!  

Regards the fate of the record, here it is in Alan's own words -

"Now, I should point out that the way in which the book will be published on November 14th is as a regular-sized, hardback edition, which will not contain the seven-inch vinyl single. Now, this was announced shortly after weâ??d said that we didnâ??t want future volumes of The League to be published by Wildstorm. We were told that they probably wouldnâ??t be including the single â?? that they would be bringing out a smaller hardback first, and perhaps a year later, they would bring out the Absolute edition containing the single. That was not the way that the book had been envisaged, and didnâ??t really seem to make much sense. I mean, in regular publishing â?? in grown-up publishing â?? itâ??s usual to bring out the lavish edition and then to bring out the cheaper edition. Thatâ??s pretty much publishing common sense, I wouldâ??ve thought. But, they decided they were going to change the plans on this and bring out the cheaper edition first. When it was realized that we were quite cross about all of this, there was a belated and ridiculous attempt to appease us by suggesting they would bring out the Absolute edition with the vinyl single at the same time as the smaller edition, which made no sense it all. So, we just said, no, just leave it. Let this one come out first, and then bring out the Absolute edition with the vinyl in the spring sometime next year. So, the readership will have to wait to hear my mellifluous tones on the double-A side, or perhaps double-b side, that is included in that bigger edition."

Well that's sorted then.. no record.

Not sure I'll get the absolute edition just for a record, I'm sure it'll be available through other means... ebay or as a download or something like that.

where are people getting there's from and how much is it going for?

I ordered mine from Reedcomics.com, for about £17 inc shipping - but they've run out at the moment, and say they should have more in soon.

Not sure what the stock situation is elsewhere.

- Steve

I got mine from fantasticrealm_uk on Ebay. £17.95 plus £2.00 postage.

They have a website too

Link: http://www.fantasticrealm.co.uk/Scripts/default.as

Travelling Man in Leeds had a few copies when I went in to pick up me prog on Friday. After an initial first read, here are some spoilerless thoughts:

Perhaps a little self-important at times, making it plain to you just how clever it is, but generally pretty damn good. I still have no idea what the ending's about, but then again I couldn't bring myself to take the 3D glasses out of their packet. Damn my collector's instinct!

Worth it just for the warning at the front of the dossier in Newspeak, mind.

You really do need the glasses to make sense of the end, it's not just the (awesome) 3D, there's images and even text that you can only read by closing one or other eye.  How Old One Eye himself came up with this stuff is another matter.  I also can't help thinking that Prospero in the last few pages bears more than a passing resemblance to the Bearded One.

I have relatives in Dublin who I might call upon... is it officially released in Dublin?  Or is it an under the counter thing?  If so, I might just wait til Im next over there.  and then theres the absolute edition... has this been confirmed yet for Spring?

Alternatively, anyone know any Midlands outlets?

Mine just arrived in the mail! yay!

Watcher, I can recommend Travelling Man Leeds for their postal service. Postage is free.

"I also can't help thinking that ******** in the last few pages bears more than a passing resemblance to the Bearded One."

That'll be because Kev (intentionally) drew him with a matching cane and set of swanky rings.

Got mine today from Amazon.com (U.S.), despite them saying delivery January. Good price, too.

I've slapped a do-not-open-before-Christmas notice on it though, because I'm working to a deadline and I know I can't be trusted to get on with it with distracting material about.

Amazon.com for me. With it costing almost exactly half the dollar price even with the 40p currency fee my card put on the price.

Bread and tits to you fine sirs

That'll be because Kev (intentionally) drew him with a matching cane and set of swanky rings.

Hmm, that could be it... that and the long cinched grey beard and the restatement of the Moore world-view...   I'm even now scouring the background for a familiar looking handpuppet.

I want to read this, but can't afford it for at least a year. Here's hoping I can persuade the Melbourne City library to buy it (like they bought Dreddfiles and three Rogue Trooper GNs)

Hmmm. Finished this last night and, to be honest, I didn't really like it. O'Neil's art was absolutely amazing throughout but I found the story and tone of the book a bit, dare I say it, pretentious. I'll give it another go in a few months.

It was fun spotting the Bash Street Kids throught the book though!

You know the fellow scampering around in the background during the epilogue who's sat on the tower with Prospero on the last page?

Is he meant to be Edward Hyde? I thought he looks quite like him. Could well be wrong, mind.

I can see the similarity but it's Caliban. I was going to write 'probably' but it just is.

That would make more sense.

Plus, he's named as Caliban in the 'Life of Orlando' picture strip.

Received mine this AM, two hours gone just like that! The bits at first glance I didn't think I'd like hooked me in, loved playing spot the reference too, Jimmy B, Annie and Jack RETURNing op north, the Giles Grannie, the carry on cabs
Triffids on the Isle of W, ha! the BB refs and debris in the Ministry of Love... Joy!

can't wait to return to it after this backshift

Buy it by hook or by crook

Orlandohuff



 

Cor, when I finished it last night I didn't use the 3d glasses. I teased 'em out of the pack today (it can be done without ruining the dust jacket!) and the 3d was luvverly, perhaps the best I've seen!

Can we have a jump on the band wagon 2000ad 3D special please Thargy?

I managed to get the glasses packet and the glue off with no damage.

I've been reading mine since Christmas Day, and I'm up to the account of Mina Murray's first meeting with Captain Nemo, which itself seems a bit superfluous.

I have really enjoyed what I've read so far. None of it is anywhere near as exciting as volumes 1 or 2, but I find the bleakness of its intertextual vision of a 1950s Britain straight out of (every) fiction to be thoroughly gripping.

Isn't the Black Dossier meant to be akin to a "Marvel Universe Sourcebook", done with flair and imagination, rather than the straight ahead adventures of Vols 1 & 2. That's why it's not called Vol. 3.

Judging by the synopsis of Vol. 3 "Century", a lot of what we are given hints of in the Black Dossier will be dramatised in it, the Carnacki stuff, the other foreign leagues et al. The Black Dossier was meant to be out a year and a half ago but due to DC's shenanigans, so it's almost like old news now.

I just finished it, and I loved the whole thing. I found parts of it hard to get into - the changes in style are pretty jarring at times - but found I warmed to all of it, even the more bonkers stuff like the Kerouac piece.

For me the highlight was the 3D section. I've never seen 3D comics done in such an inventive way.
The bit with the mirror-portal thing, where you could seee different scenes depending on which eye you use, and the speech bubbles with two types of text in them, were an absolute delight.

As ever, the reference-spotting was good fun. I'm sure there's a glossary around somewhere to help us out.

I don't know what my wife paid for this book, but it was worth every penny!

- Trout

Annotations to the Black Dossier
by Jess Nevins



The book version of these annotations will be Impossible Territories and will be published by MonkeyBrain Books in July, 2008. The book will have greatly expanded annotations (I'll give context to things that I mention in passing here), interviews with Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, and whatever other goodies and extras I can manage to put in to it.

Warning: There are some Bad Words used in these annotations. If youâ??re under 18 or have a delicate disposition, look away.

In order to avoid spoiling some reveals and surprises, some things will not be explained on their first appearance.

References are explained the first time they appear, and not thereafter.

Moving clockwise unless otherwise noted.

 



Front Cover. If the sword is a reference to anything, Iâ??m unaware of it. Philip & Emily Graves write, "Looks like some Martian on the sword's blade, so could it be Gullivar's or Carter's.....?" Stu Shiffman writes, "I had wondered whether the sword was supposed to be Orlandoâ??s Durendal, but John Carterâ??s might be as possible (tho as a Virginian gentleman, Carter would be more likely to leave it to the Smithsonian or perhaps the Jeffersonian Institution of TVâ??s â??Bonesâ? series)." But see Page 119.

I believe the quartet of men wearing owl masks and Elizabethan clothing are from a penny dreadful, but Iâ??ve been unable to place it. Stu Shiffman believes they are from the Blazing World.

I donâ??t know what the rocket refers to, if anything. Itâ??s similar to the one seen on Page 142. Kevin O'Neill says that it's from the movie Flight to Mars.

Iâ??m not sure what that thing to the right of the rocket is. Possibly one of the Martians wearing gasmasks from the first issue of League v2?

The blonde woman is Mina Murray, from Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). The man running with her is Allan Quatermain, from H. Rider Haggardâ??s series of books. He is young because he was rejuvenated in the Fires of Life as described in the text pages of League v2.

I'm not sure what the spiral-tipped stone statue is. Shawn Garrett notes that it appears on Page 30, Panel 2.

The painting is of the 1898 League, featuring H. Rider Haggardâ??s Allan Quatermain, Robert Louis Stevensonâ??s Edward Hyde, Jules Verneâ??s Captain Nemo, and H.G. Wellsâ?? Invisible Man.

Page 1. Kevin O'Neill identifies this logo as a riff on the Festival of Britain logo:


 


Page 2. â??Keep Calm and Carry Onâ? was one of the phrases used by British government during World War Two to encourage the British people to keep a stiff upper lip, especially during the Battle of the Blitz, when London was being pounded by nightly bombings. However, the original poster with â??Keep Calm and Carry Onâ? looked like this:


 


The gate, chains, and jagged lightning bolts replacing the crown gives another indication about what England has become in the alternate history of Black Dossier.

Pádraig � Méalóid writes, "This poster was apparently never actually issued, but was held in reserve in case Britain got invaded. You can read all about it here where, amongst other things, it says But the 'Keep Calm' posters were held in reserve, intended for use only in times of crisis or invasion. Although some may have found there way onto Government office walls, the poster was never officially issued and so remained virtually unseen by the public - unseen, that is, until a copy turned up more than fifty years later in a box of dusty old books bought in auction. You can buy a copy of the poster here, if you want, and there's all sorts of other stuff with it on, like t-shirts, to be found here."

Page 4. The Daily Brute is a reference to Evelyn Waughâ??s Scoop (1938). Scoop, routinely voted one of the best novels of the 20th century, is a scathing savaging of the English sensationalist press. In Scoop the newspaper for which the protagonist works is the Daily Beast. Its main rival, even more base and yellow, is the Daily Brute. (For modern British readers, think Daily Mail, only even worse).

Page 5. Philip & Emily Graves write, "Can't place the letters "AIHD" (an acronym?), but '84' is obvious enough, while July 1948 is when Orwell returned to Jura and re-commenced work on his novel, after having been delayed through illness."
    Guy Lawley writes, "The ID card carries the initials AIHD which when rendered into numbers (as per position in the alphabet) = 1984"

â??If found return to MiniLuv.â?
â??MiniLuvâ? is an example of newspeak, which appears in George Orwellâ??s 1984 (1949). 1984, a classic of dystopian fiction, describes life under the rule of the totalitarian government of â??Oceania.â? One of Oceaniaâ??s malign innovations is to impose newspeak on its citizens. Newspeak is an artificially constructed language designed to remove as many words and meanings as possible from conversation, with the intention being to leave speakers capable of describing, and conceiving of, concepts in only simplistic dichotomies: black and white, good and evil, and so on. Toward this end words are merged together and shortened, so that â??English Socialismâ? becomes â??IngSoc.â? â??MiniLuvâ? stands for the â??Ministry of Love,â? the government department which uses fear, brainwashing, and torture to enforce loyalty to and love of Big Brother, the leader of Oceania.

Pages 6-7. This is a parody of that classic of graphic design, the map of the London Tube.

Philip & Emily Graves write, "Many puns here: Maida Jump, Court Short, Turnham Blue, Colouring Inn, Tooting Bottom, Eating Broadly, Rothernot, Pen Stroke Newington, Upper Etching, H.B. Row, Ink Staines, Whiteout City, etc. Also no wonder than Mr Moore's line would include "Chin Topiary" "Barking" and "Very Cross"...

Many of these are clearly riffs on actual underground stations (while Pen Stroke Newington and Ink Staines allude to the areas of London named Stoke Newington and Staines respectively). Some of these include:
Maida Jump (Maida Vale),
(Earl's) Court Short,
Dunbiers Wood (Colliers Wood),
Tooting Bottom (Tooting Bec)
Parsons Nose (Parsons Green)
Eating Broadly (Fulham Broadway)
Rothernot (Rotherhithe),
Finner (Pinner),
Faxbridge (Uxbridge),
East Team (East Ham),
Arson Elbow (Arsenal),
Barking (Barking),
Whiteout City (White City),
Very Cross (Charing/New Cross).
More subtlely, 'Umber' could play on "Burnt Oak" and 'Chin Topiary' allude to the "Barbican". (Interesting that "Moorgate", "Moor Park" and "Bond Street" didn't make it onto the map.)

"(John Nee) - Extension delayed subject to mood" and "(ABC) - Closed for the duration" are both legends the like of which appear in Underground stations from time to time, and whose associated double meanings are obvious here.

"Monument" Station also serves as one for Bill Oakley (1964-2004), to whom this volume is dedicated."

Steve Daldry writes to correct one part of the preceding: "Eating Broadly is more than likely a reference to Ealing Broadway rather than Fulham."

â??If experiencing nausea while in the nether regions, keep hat firmly on, lay back, and think of England.â?
â??Lie back and think of Englandâ? is the advice supposedly given to daughters, by mothers, during the Victorian era about how to survive the wedding night and the loss of virginity, since (supposedly) Victorian women couldnâ??t conceive of a proper woman enjoying sex. This is ahistorical nonsense, of course, and â??lie back and think of Englandâ? was not standard advice, or even widely said. The quote attributed to "Lady Hillingdon" is spurious, and Gathorne-Hardy, the source of the Lady Hillingdon quote, himself says that the quote is "somewhat suspect." I repeat: "lie back and think of England" was not standard advice or even widely said, if at all.

â??The Blazing Worldâ? is a reference to Observations upon Experimental Philosophy. To which is added the Description of a New Blazing World. Written by the Thrice Noble, Illustrious and Excellent Princess, The Duchess of Newcastle (1666), by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. The Blazing World is a classic of the Imaginary Voyage genre and was referred to in League v2.

â??Ray Zoneâ? is a reference to Ray Zone, who did the 3D art for Black Dossier.

Pádraig � Méalóid writes:

Various things can be seen or inferred here, although no doubt some of this is entirely in my imagination.

There are two real stations mentioned, Barking and Monument.

Alan Moore: Black line (Northern)
Black is probably appropriate for Moore, as he's usually photographed dressed in black.

Moore's line has junctions with O'Neill, Dimagmaliw, Oakley and Klein, but, perhaps signigficantly, not with Dunbier or Quinn. (There is some sort of unidentified link from Dunbier's line to Moore's, which may indicate some link between them personally.)

East Buttock & West Buttock: This may indicate Moore having to figuratively 'bend over and spread 'em' for DC.

In general Moore's stations seem to be him poking fun at his own public image, like Rumour mill, Barking and Very Cross. Pi is also interesting, as the irrational number Pi(3.1415 etc) is the number he ascribes to the 'imaginary' sphere, Daath, in issue #20 of Promethea. E=mc2 is *almost* MCC, the home of English Cricket.

Kevin O'Neill: Red line(Central)
The fact that O'Neill has the red line might be a play on the banking meaning of being 'in the red,' that is being 'overdrawn.' O'Neill is also 'Subject to delay at all times.' I'm fairly sure there was some reference to his slow progress with the art in the early pages of one of the other LoEG volumes.

Staines is where Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G comes from.

Conté make crayons.

Crazy Town was a 1932 Betty Boop movie.

Various interesting people come from Stoke Newington, including Daniel Defoe, and more particularly Stewart Lee, stand-up comedian and good friend of Alan Moore.

Page 8. The two ads on the right side of this page are legitimate.

The cartoon on the lower left is done in the style of New Yorker cartoons from the 1950s and 1960s. The cartoonâ??s artist, â??Arnie Packer,â? is a reference to the â??Winged Avengerâ? episode of the British tv series The Avengers. In â??The Winged Avengerâ? an evil cartoonist named â??Arnie Packerâ? is responsible for a series of murders.
    Pádraig Ã? Méalóid says, "the artwork for the comic strip was actually done by UK comics artist Frank Bellamy," and points us to this site, which has samples of the comic art.

Page 9. Panel 1. If the Malibu Hotel is a reference to something, Iâ??m unaware of it.

The headline in lower center, â??Melchester Rovers Scandal,â? is a reference to the British comic Roy of the Rovers (1954-1993), in which the hero Roy Race plays football for the Melchester Rovers.

The headline on the right, â??Knightsbridge Ape-Men,â? is a reference to â??Quatermass and the Pitâ? (1958), the third Professor Quatermass BBC serial. In it, the bones of ape-men, unearthed in Knightsbridge, lead to the revelation of the Martian influence on the evolution of humanity.

Pádraig � Méalóid writes,

There is a large head on a flat-bed truck in the top left-hand corner, possibly from a statue of Big Brother?

Is it possible that the blond-haired man in the lower left-hand corner is a young John Constantine? Well, now that I look him up, obviously not, as he's meant to have been born in 1953. Some searching around leads me to guess that this might be a character from Colin McInnes's Absolute Beginners, which is set in 1958. Not sure who exactly, but someone will probably know more about this. It's possibly the nameless narrator.

Presumably the man with the briefcase in the front middle is someone, but I've no idea who. Likewise the two men speaking at the very front middle.

Panel 3. â??Will Wilson return for Olympics?â? reference is to Wilson, the mysterious, superhuman teenaged athlete from the British comics Wizard, Hotspur, and Hornet (1943-1963). Wilson, born in 1806, achieved longevity and athletic prowess from special breathing exercises and a diet of gruel, nuts, berries, and wild roots. In one episode he breaks the world long jump record while running a three-minute mile.
    Damian Gordon notes that Wilson was brought back as â??the Man in Blackâ? in the British comic Spike in 1983.

Panels 4-6. Jack & Annie Walker were characters on the long-running British soap Coronation Street. The Walkers were landlords of the Rovers Return Inn. (Hence the comment in Panel 6 that â??our rovinâ?? days are overâ?).

Panel 4. Pádraig � Méalóid writes "You can see a pen in JB's top pocket..."

Panel 5. â??Straight after election she â??ad all cameras took out, the lot.â?
The England of 1984 was of course under constant observation from the government of Oceania, but I think this is also an allusion by Moore to England as it is now, with over four million cameras watching the British at all times.

Panel 6. â??Victory Gin is Doubleplus Good For You.â?
â??Victory Ginâ? is the only authorized alcohol in Orwellâ??s 1984. â??Doubleplusâ? is another use of newspeak (see Page 5). I will refrain from noting the use of newspeak from this point onâ??suffice it to say that thereâ??s a lot of it in here.
    Ken Shinn adds, "This is also a parody of a long-standing advertising slogan for the famous Guinness stout (which ran throughout the 50s and 60s - maybe later) which ran, "Guinness Is Good For You". It's been memorably parodied by Gilbert Shelton in his Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers saga "The Idiots Abroad", where a London advertising hoarding boldly proclaims that "HEDGEHOG STOUT WON'T KILL YOU"."
    Pádraig Ã? Méalóid adds, "Victory Gin: It's Doubleplus Good For You. This echoes the famous advertising slogan 'Guinness is Good For You,' said to have been written by Britrish crime novelist Dorothy L Sayers when she worked as a copywriter for Benson's Advertising."

The â??Vâ? cigarettes that the blonde woman is smoking here are likely â??Victory cigarettes,â? also from 1984.
    Richardthinks notes that Victory Cigarettes were a real brand, as seen here. Damian Gordon adds, "Victory Cigarettes are featured as a central plot point in  "Columbo: Caution - Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health" with George Hamilton (fake orange tan and all) injecting posion into the cigarettes." Pádraig Ã? Méalóid adds, "If I remember rightly, victory Cigarettes were so badly made that they needed to be held in a horizontal position to prevent the tobacco from falling out."

Panel 7. â??Iâ??ll have a vodka martini over iceâ?¦and stir that, if you would. Otherwise it bruises the alcohol.â?
â??Shaken, not stirredâ? is the cliched quote from Ian Flemingâ??s James Bond (who as will be seen is the speaker here). However, Bond never said, â??shaken, not stirred.â? His stated preference for martinis appears in the first Bond novel, Casino Royale:

"A dry martini," he said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."
"Oui, monsieur."
"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?"

The bruising of the alcohol comes when a martini is shaken. Shaking a martini during its preparation adds air into the drink and â??bruisesâ? the alcohol, making the drink taste too bitter. Greg Terry writes, "The thing is from everything I have ever read about alcohol, bruising only happens with a gin martini, with vodka it is not a concern. Although with shaking you melt more of the ice and you end up with a more watered down drink. Though you might be interested in this bit of information. I found this link about martinis if you want more info."

Philip & Emily Graves write, "I'm fairly sure I read somewhere that the iconic phrase was "Stirred, not shaken" in early film drafts, but that (Cubby Broccoli?) had it switched more for aesthetic reasons than anything else." And "Note the similarity between Bond's appearance here and the drawing commissioned to help the Daily Express artists for his newspaper strip, from 1957 onwards." Tim Chapman adds that Bond particularly remembers Hoagy Carmichael here. (See Page 155).
    Eduard Habsburg writes, "the black comma of hair over the eye is standard in every description of Bond, e. g.: Opening lines of Casino Royale:

It was a dark, clean-cut face, with a three-inch scar showing whitely down the sunburned skin of the right cheek. The eyes were wide and level under straight, rather long black brows. The hair was black, parted on the left, and carelessly brushed so that a thick black comma fell down over the right eyebrow. The longish straight nose ran down to a short upper lip below which was a wide and finely drawn but cruel mouth. The line of jaw was straight and firm. A section of dark suit, white shirt and black knitted tie completed the picture.

Page 10. Panel 1. Apparently in the world of League Britain went to a U.K./U.S. monetary system, with 10 shillings equaling 1 dollar rather than (or in addition to) 20 shillings equalling 1 pound. Also, the face on the shilling note is Britannia, the personification of the British Empire. Modern pound notes have the Queenâ??s face on them, but the 1948 pound note had Britannia on it. Nevin Zehr corrects the preceding: "The British use of the dollar is not an invention of Alan Moore, but is in fact in accordance with how things are portrayed in "Nineteen Eighty-Four", in which dollars are the currency used in Airstrip One, and presumably all of Oceana."

Panel 4. "I'm Jimmy, by the way."
Philip & Emily Graves note that ""Jimmy Bond" was also the name used in the 1954 'Climax!' TVM version of Casino Royale, for its Americanised main character."
Peter Sanderson writes, "Moore makes his version of James Bond look even more foolish by giving him the same name as Jimmy Bond, James's nephew in the 1967 "Casino Royale" film, played by Woody Allen.  Note that in the 1967 movie, Jimmy turns out to be the villain, albeit an incompetent one."
    John Andrews writes, "Fleming was a member of the Britiah Secret Service himself and wrote fictionalised accounts of his and other agents adventures to cope with his depression. However in James Bond: The Authorised Biography by John Pearson, Fleming writes the Bond stories as an ellaborate way of conving Soviet agents that he doesn't really exist. Therefore everyone has heard of James Bond in the real world. Perhaps in the world of the League something similar happened which is why Bond uses the name "Jimmy" rather than James?"

â??Bash Street,â? â??Rampaging Yobs,â? and the picture are a reference to the British comic strip â??Bash Street Kids,â? created by British comics great Leo Baxendale (originally as â??When the Bell Ringsâ?) and appearing in Beano from 1954 to the present. The Bash Street Kids are a bunch of mischievous and ill-behaved children at the Bash Street School. Pádraig Ã? Méalóid adds, The two Bash Street Kids pictured are Danny and Wilfrid. I have a drawing of Wilfrid, done by Leo Baxendale, you know! 'Yob' is back-slang for 'Boy.'"

The â??Asian Fluâ? may be a specific literary/cultural reference or just an allusion to the Asian flu epidemic in Britain during late 1950s. (And which, appropriately enough, killed Sax Rohmer, the creator of Fu Manchu).

Panel 8. Captain Morgan is a reference to Jet Morgan, who starred in the British radio serial Journey Into Space (1953-1958). Set in the distant future of 1965 (and in later series the early 1970s), Journey Into Space is about Captain Jet Morgan, â??Docâ? Matthews, â??Mitchâ? Mitchell, and Lemmy Barnett, and their trip to the Moon and then to Mars.

Captain Dare is a reference to Dan Dare, the archetypal British comic science fiction hero. Created by Frank Hampson, Dan Dare has been appearing in various media since his debut in the comic Eagle in 1950. In the 1990s Dan Dare, chief pilot of the Interplanet Space Fleet, has adventures across the solar system, repeatedly coming into conflict with the Mekon, the evil ruler of the Treens of northern Venus.
    Damian Gordon notes that Dan Dare is a Colonel, not a Captain, in his original appearances.

Captain Logan is a reference to Jet-Ace Logan, who appeared in the British comics Comet (1956-1959) and Tiger (1959-1968). Royal Air Force Space Cadet Jim â??Jet-Aceâ? Logan is a part of the R.A.F. Space Patrol and cruises about the solar system, fighting iniquitous aliens and finding adventure.

Ed Berridge and Guy Lawley undo my ignorance about the man Bond pushes aside here and who rubs his head in panel 9: "the chap Jimmy pushes aside would appear to be L. Miller Watt's Pop, a newspaper strip that ran in the Daily Sketch  from 1921-1960 (though Gordon Hogg took over as writer/artist from 1949)."

Panel 9. â??Fighter ace diesâ? is presumably a reference to something, but the accompanying picture could refer to a number of characters. But see Page 16, Panel 8.

Page 11. Panel 4. Philip & Emily Graves write, "Jimmy has acquired the Harlequin-emblazoned cigarette case from his Grandfather, seen way back at the beginning, in V1I1P1.2."

Panel 5. Peter Sanderson writes, "Actually, I'm a secret agent":  the way that Bond lights his cigarette with an eerie glow  reminds me of the Cigarette-Smoking Man in The X-Files."

Panel 6. Meccania is a reference to Gregory Owen's Meccania, the Super-State (1918). Meccania is the ultimate in totalitarian dystopias, a state completely regimented and controlled by the government. For a Big Brother-ruled England, Meccania would be a natural enemy.

Panel 7. Kian Ross, Rich Weaver, and Jeff Patterson, among others, point out what I should have gotten: that the statue is of Mr. Hyde, as mentioned at the end of League v2. Adam J.B. Lane writes, "the semi-abstract quality of the hyde memorial statue makes me wonder if k.o. isn't referencing the work of british sculptor henry moore (1898-1986)." Damian Gordon writes, "In LoEG V2 it states that the artist who created the Hyde sculpture is Sir Jacob Epstein, and the Hyde statue definitely looks like his work."

Page 12. Panel 3. â??Oâ??Dette â??Oodlesâ?? Oâ??Quimâ? is a riff on the salacious, single-entendre names Bond women and Bondâ??s female enemies usually have.
    I'd assumed that "quim" was commonly-known, but obviously note. Peter Sanderson, among others, writes: ""Oodles O'Quim":  until I looked it up, I didn't
know that "quim" is British slang for female genitalia.  I suspect I'm not the only American reader who didn't know that.  So "Oodles O'Quim" is the equivalent of "Pussy Galore." Mario di Giacomo writes "Oodles O'Quim is a better match to Plenty O'Toole, from Diamonds Are Forever." Peter Sanderson responds, "No,  I don't think so. "Quim" and "Pussy" both refer to female genitalia.  But when Plenty O'Toole introduces herself to Bond in the "Diamonds Are Forever" movie, he comments, "Named after your father, perhaps?""

Panel 7. There is a reference to a statue of Big Brother in 1984: â??in Victory Square...near the statue of Big Brother on the tall fluted column with the lions at the foot.â? The statue here doesnâ??t appear to be it, though.
    Peter Sanderson writes, "This indicates that in "1984" Trafalgar Square was renamed Victory Square, and Nelson's statue was replaced by a statue of Big Brother."
    Philip & Emily Graves write, "perhaps that *is* the statue of BB, which could indeed have replaced the statue of Hornblower in Trafalgar Square (as per Prospectus of London, 1901, p106), but it's now being torn down, and so may not fit the description from 1984 exactly."
    Cliff Schexnayder writes, "The removal of the statue seems particularly reminiscent of the efforts by the US forces to take down the statue of Saddam Hussein after taking Baghdad in 2003. I don't think this is an accident since the way the statue leans is in direct opposition to the way the ropes are draped upon it for removal." Pádraig Ã? Méalóid noted this as well.

Wow! was a British comic which appeared in 1982 and 1983, but I donâ??t believe the bus advert is a reference to that.

Maplins is a holiday camp in the British tv sitcom Hi-de-Hi! (1980-1988). Maplins is in the coastal town of Crimpton-on-Sea in Essex. As far as I know thereâ??s no â??Bluepoolâ? in Hi-de-Hi!. Damian Gordon points out that Maplins is based on a real series of camps called Butlinâ??s Holiday Camps. James Parry writes, "About the 'Bluepool' reference on page 12, panel 7 of the Black Dossier. I'm sure someone has already suggested this but, similar to the pun underground station names earlier on, it could simply be a play on the traditional British seaside resort of Blackpool. While it's seen better days, its heyday as a tourist destination did just about stretch to the timeframe of the events in the 'Dossier."

â??--is watching youâ? is the second half of the classic phrase â??Big Brother is Watching Youâ? from 1984.

John Dorrian writes,

Anyway, in a wide shot of a street scene in this section, we see an old lady, dressed in a black coat, wearing glasses and a hat with flowers on it, looking pissed off at a passing car. This woman is the Grandmother from the weekly Giles cartoons that ran in the Daily Express. Giles mostly did political cartoons, but he alternated between politics and domestic cartoons about an unnamed Family cast of characters he'd created. His work was extremely popular. Grandma was a fairly bad tempered old thing & was the basis for an even more violent character in Cerebus the Aardvark. (Dave Sim was a Giles fan, and his version of the character wasn't so much a 'homage' as it was Sim simply lifting the character wholesale from Giles and plopping her down in Cerebus.)

Philip & Emily Graves write, "That's Grandma, head of the Giles family berating a rather rude flat-capped individual." Michael Norwitz says the same thing.

Tim Chapman writes, "is that Tony Hancock in bottom left with arm raised? Eyebrows and jowels certainly look like him."

Page 13. Panel 1. â??Airstrip Oneâ? is is what the British Isles are called in 1984. Airstrip One is part of Oceania (the Americas, Southern Africa, and Australia).

The â??Anti-Sex Leagueâ? is a reference to the government-backed organization, in 1984, which is devoted to eliminating the pleasurable aspect of sex. Members of the League are encouraged to have sex, but only once a week, and â??for the good of the party.â?

Panel 2.  In 1984 Oâ??Brien is a member of the Inner Party, the ruling class of Oceania. In the novel Oâ??Brien is responsible for torturing Winston Smith, the protagonist, into accepting Big Brother.

Panel 4. Jeff Wilson, among others, corrects me: â??Freedom is Slaveryâ? is not newspeak, but is one of the slogans of Oceania's ruling class. As Jeff says, "It cannot be newspeak, as Sime explains about 50 pages in, because newspeak will eliminate the concept of freedom." Tony Whitt adds that it is "an example of "doublethink", the ability to hold two contrary notions in one's head and to believe both of them.  "Newspeak" would refer only to words like "doubleplusgood", "crimethink", and, for that matter, "doublethink"." Pádraig Ã? Méalóid noted this as well.

The shell marks on the Ministry of Love may seem unusual, but much of London was not fully rebuilt, following World War Two, until the mid- to late-1950s.

Page 14. Panel 1. The poster in the upper left is a combination of the â??Big Brother Is Watching Youâ? poster from 1956 British film version of 1984, and the mustached Big Brother from the 1984 American film version of 1984.

The bust in the lower left is of Professor Moriarty (I think), replacing the bust of Napoleon which Moriarty kept when he was in charge of British Intelligence in League volume 1.

The symbol above the doors is the Masonic compass and right angle which was a recurring symbol in earlier League volumes. In Masonic lore the compass and right angle symbolize the instruments of both the Masons and God.

If the pith helmet and the sheathed sword are references to anything, Iâ??m unaware of it. Damian Gordon suggests that they may be Quatermainâ??s. But I think Myles Lobdell has the truth of it:

if you are willing to give yourself eyestrain you can barely make out on the dark-blue tag attached to the bat, the words "Clicky-Ba".  The letters 'Cl-' on the first row and 'Ba' on the second row of the tag are the most legible, the other letters seem a scrawl. Thus, this apparent cricket bat, is none other than the 'club' of Chung, servant to the Wolf of Kabul, Bill Samson.  To explain the pith helmet, Samson was often described thus: "He walked with his hands thrust deep into his pockets, and a battered sun-helmet stuck on the back of his head". A sun-helmet is a common synonym for pith helmet.

For some reason, however, we all missed what Guy Lawley got, which is that both the pith hemet and cricket bat belong to William Samson of the 1940s League--see the notes to Page 148.

The bust with the question mark may be the bust of Baron von Münchhausen seen in the first League series. Jason Adams disagrees: "I don't think the bust is Baron Munnchausen, but rather it is the same bust of Britannia with the question mark helmet, as seen on the Cover and the stylized compass rose/union jack emblem from the inside cover flap and first few pages of the book. Along with the masonic compass and capital M (both seen, incidentally, on the door to the building on Page 13. Panel 4 and Panel 6), this depiction of Britannia is one of the main symbols of the League."

Iâ??m unsure what the glass ball might be. Philip & Emily Graves write, "The glass ball (helmet) and 's' shirt are definitely connected, and look very similar indeed to this cover to Tom Swift and his Space Solartron."

The giant skull is the Brobdingnagian skull, from Jonathan Swiftâ??s Gulliverâ??s Travels (1726), seen in League v1.

Iâ??m not sure what the shirt with the â??sâ? emblem is referring to. Andrew Kunka writes, "I think that the glass ball and the "s" shirt go together, as an underwater breating suit.  Not sure what it references, though.  Perhaps Tom Swift?"

Iâ??m not sure who the portrait of the man in the bow-tie is a reference to. Michael Norwitz wonders if it might the Dorian Gray. Adam J.B. Lane writes, "I suspect the portrait is that of dorian grey, returned to normal now that its subject is deceased." Peter Sanderson writes, "The Picture of Dorian Gray was a full-length portrait, whereas the picture in this panel only shows its subject's head and upper chest." John Andrews writes, "I believe the portrait on page 14 panel 1 is in fact Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, rather than Dorian Gray. Fleming often wore a bow tie and an expressition of of distain, just like the portrait here."

On the bulletin board, the painting/picture, â??Pacific Ocean July 1949,â? and â??Iron Fish?â? are references to â??Iron Fish,â? from the British comic Beano from 1949-1968. The Iron Fishâ??s creator, Jimmy Grey, appeared in League v2. â??The Iron Fishâ? is about two twins, Danny and Penny Gray, who pilot two â??Iron Fishâ? submarines, both of which are built by their father, Professor Gray, who is the subject of the â??Professor Gray Feared Lostâ? headline on the lower left of the board.

â??Bla- Sapp-â?? is a reference to the titular character of the comic strip â??The Black Sapper,â? who appeared in the British comcs Rover and Hotspur for decades, beginning with The Rover #384 (Aug. 24, 1929). The Black Sapper is a costumed inventor/thief who uses The Earthworm, an enormous burrowing machine, to commit crimes. He reforms in the face of an alien invasion of Earth.

Panel 2. The painting in the upper left is based on this:


 


This is Sir Francis Walsingham (c. 1532-1590), the spymaster for Queen Elizabeth I in our world. However, as can be seen on Page 53, Walsingham has been replaced by someone else in the world of League. For who, see the notes to Page 53.

Panel 4. In 1984 Room 101 is â??the worst thing in the world,â? a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love where prisoners are subjected to their worst nightmares.

Panel 5. Ed Berridge writes, "the wicker chair here might well be supposed to suggest the similar object used as part of an (inadvertantly) homoerotic, testicular-oriented method or torture in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale."

Charles Cunyus notes, "You can also make out the rat torture mask used on Winston Smith by O'Brein in room 101."

Panel 6. â??Special village in Walesâ? a reference to the British tv series The Prisoner (1967), in which retired spies who too dangerous to their former employers are confined in a village. The location of the village was never specified, but the series was filmed in Portmeirion, which is in Wales.

Page 15. Panels 1-4. Bond is this hatefully misogynistic in the Ian Fleming books, if not in the films.
    Regarding this, Pádraig Ã? Méalóid usefully points out "AM's 1986 introduction to Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, where he says "As our political and social consciousness continues to evolve, Alan Quartermain stands revealed as just another white imperialist out to exploit the natives and we begin to see that the overriding factor in James Bond's psychological makeup is his utter hatred and contempt for women.""

Panel 9. I believe that James Bond was once described as a â??nasty little thugâ? but Iâ??ve been unable to find the reference. David Alexander McDonald notes that in the most recent film version of Casino Royale M uses the word "thug" in describing Bond. Patrick Reumann gets it: "John Steed of the Avenger Show fight and beats Bond  in a fight at school and then call him a A "Nasty little Thug" in John Steed- An Authorized Biography: Vol 1, Jealous in Honour by Tim Heald 1977."

Page 16. Panel 3. Keith Kole writes, "Here's a meeting of two characters - James Bond and Allan Quatermain - both played by Sean Connery in the movies.

I have to wonder about Allan and Mina's clothing choices: Allan in the trench coat reminds me of the hard boiled detectives of film noir and Mina is dressed like one of that genres femme fatales."

Panel 4. â??Just like your grandfather.â?
This is confirmation that Campion Bond, seen in the previous volumes of League, is James Bondâ??s grandfather.

Panel 5. â??Is this what itâ??s come to? The British adventure hero? Pathetic.â?
While it is logical that a 19th century British adventure hero (Mina) would find the 20th century British adventure hero (Bond) unsavory and pathetic, the statement might also be seen as a metatextual comment by Moore on the way in which 20th century British adventure fiction, certainly of the first half of the century, overtly displayed biases (see Page 79, Panel 2, for example) which were mostly hidden during the 19th century.
    Jason Powell corrects me: "You say that this dialogue belongs to Mina, but it looked to me that the word balloon was attached to Allan. This struck me as more resonant, since Allan Quatermain is much more the quintessential British adventure hero, and as such more likely to pass judgment on what the archetype has "come to.""

Panel 7. â??If heâ??d been German, heâ??d have been loyal to Hynkel.â?
See Page 47.

Panel 8. â??Eurasiaâ? is a reference to 1984. Eurasia, which is Europe, Russia, northern Africa, and the Middle East, is the enemy of Oceania.

â??Socialâ?? Nucleaâ?? by Gustâ??â?? is a reference to to H.G. Wellsâ?? The Shape of Things to Come (1933), a future history of the world in which a benevolent dictatorship emerges following a deadly plague. In The Shape of Things to Come a Wellsian stand-in, Gustave de Windt, writes a book, Social Nucleation, which

was the first exhaustive study of the psychological laws underlying team play and esprit de corps, disciplines of criminal gangs, spirit of factory groups, crews, regiments, political parties, churches, professionalisms, aristocracies, patriotisms, class consciousness, organized research and constructive cooperation generally. It did for the first time correlate effectively the increasing understanding of individual psychology, with new educational methods and new concepts of political life. In spite of its unattractive title and a certain wearisomeness in the exposition, his book became a definite backbone for the constructive effort of the new time.

Titus Cobbet is a reference to Wellsâ?? The Shape of Things to Come. In The Shape of Things to Come a bicyclist, Titus Cobbett, travels through a ruined Europe and England observing the desolation. He also reports on the death of a â??European Aviator,â? which could be what the headline on Page 10, Panel 9 is referring to.

I donâ??t know what â??â??ipleyâ? might be a reference to. Patricia Highsmithâ??s Tom Ripley, possibly?

â??The Thâ?? Oligarchial Emmâ??â?? is a reference to The Theory and Practice of Oligarchial Collectivism, which in 1984 is â??a terrible book, a compendium of all the heresiesâ? and is written by the dissident Emmanuel Goldstein.

Panel 9.  â??â??stasiaâ? is a reference to Eastasia in 1984. Eastasia, which consists of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Middle East, is the smallest and newest of the three superstates.

â??Atrocity Pamphletâ? may be a reference to the J.G. Ballard novel The Atrocity Exhibition (1970). Chris Nichols, among others, wonders if this is a reference to Charlie Stross' Atrocity Archives: "The Atrocity Archives" deals with British Intelligence's use of and battles against the occult. During the novel, the protaganists visit the Atrocity Archives, a secret museum in the Hague housing the relics of the Nazis' gruesome occult rituals."

â??Manor Farmâ? is a reference to George Orwellâ??s Animal Farm (1945), in which the revolution of the talking animals takes place at Manor Farm.

Iâ??m not sure what â??Harry Blakeâ? might be a reference to. Jonathan Carter wonders if it might be a reference to Sexton Blake's ne'er-do-well brother Harry, who was introduced in a story in either 1905 or 1907. Philip & Emily Graves agree: "It must be Sexton Blake's elder brother Henry. From the Blake Bibliography, which says for 1907: "By far the most important event reported this year is Blake's encounter with his long-lost elder brother, Henry."

Iâ??m not sure what the folder with the stylized letter is a reference to. Philip & Emily Graves write, "We think that the 'stylised letter' could be Martian, and that this is a Martian/English reference work."

I think the book below that reads â??Moreau,â? which is a reference to H.G. Wellsâ?? The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896). Dr. Moreau appeared in League v2.

â??Gustave de Windtâ? is a reference to H.G. Wellsâ?? The Shape of Things to Come. (See the note to Panel 8 above).

Iâ??m not sure what â??-oy Carsâ? might be a reference to. Philip & Emily Graves write, "We suspect that "-oy Cars-" is Roy Carson, a 1940s-50s "square-jawed hardboiled quasi-private eye" created by prolific detective-fiction cover-artist Denis McLoughlin." Andrew Kunka adds a link to Carson's entry on the indispensible Thrilling Detective site.

â??St. Merri-- Hospitalâ? is a reference to John Wyndhamâ??s The Day of the Triffids (1953). The Day of the Triffids is a science fiction, horror, post-apocalyptic novel in which a race of carnivorous plants, the triffids, cause the downfall of human civilization. The opening of the novel occurs in St. Merrynâ??s Hospital.

Page 17. Panel 1. â??...how much vipers like Lime actually know...â?
See Page 78, Panel 9 for more on â??Lime.â?

â??Drakeâ? is a reference to John Drake, the protagonist of the BBC tv series Danger Man (1960-1962). John Drake is an Irish-American spy for a department of NA.T.O. who carries out missions for his superiors even though he often disagrees with them. The Prisoner, which starred Patrick McGoohan (who played John Drake), is unofficially the sequel to Danger Man. In David McDanielâ??s Who is No. 2? (1968) it is confirmed that Drake is No. 6, The Prisoner.
    David Alexander McDonald writes:

David MacDaniel's novel is ephemeral, and it was repeatedly stated by McGoohan and various members of the production that The Prisoner is not, in fact, John Drake (despite the John Drake picture X'd out at the beginning of the show.)  These statements from the production end (most recently on the  40th Anniversary DVD release) are hobbled a tiny bit, however, by the appearance of an actor playing a character named Potter in both Danger Man and The Prisoner, albeit the character being quite different in each iteration, by the original reference in the story treatments to the Prisoner as "Drake" (he was referred to as P as pre-production and production went on) and by the repurposing of an unused Danger Man script, "The Girl Who Was Death," in the last four episodes of the series -- and there's that passing reference there to "Drake."  But the official line is that the Prisoner wasn't Drake.  More entertainingly, the producers have been known to  speculate that, given the final episode, the series actually took place with in a virtual reality, or entirely in the Prisoner's mind while he was drugged to the gills.

    Philp & Emily Graves write:

On the 'Drake as Prisoner' suggestion, it should be noted that, although McGoohan and others denied that they were the same character, George Markstein, co-creator of (and script editor on) The Prisoner stated on several occasions that they WERE. One suggestion for the purported confusion is that the character (and name) of John Drake were created and owned by Ralph Smart, so overt identification of the two was either impossible for legal reasons, or undesirable as the rights were not McGoohan's.

Win Eckert writes, "in addition to David McDaniel's novel, the Drake-Prisoner identification was confirmed in the third PRISONER novel, A DAY IN THE LIFE by Hank Stine."

â??Meresâ? is a reference to Toby Meres, who appeared in the British tv series Callan (1967-1972). David Callan, the protagonist, is a bitter, aging assassin for the British S.I.S. Meres is Callan's partner. Lee Barnett corrects my original description of Toby Meres and writes that Meres is "not so much less-skilled, as he is a cold blooded psychopath who enjoys the more violent aspects of the work, whereas Callan hated it, even though the latter was so bloody good at it." David Alexander McDonald writes:

 I adored Callan -- bitterly cynical, wonderful work from Edward Woodward.  Meres wasn't Callan's superior, though -- he was his peer (as
was Cross, after Anthony Valentine left for a while.)  Meres was an arrogant, impulsive, and thoroughly sociopathic twat, a former public schoolboy and Oxford graduate who certainly had ambitions beyond his station; he was, however, unlikely to assume the position of Hunter, which Callan did for a while.  In the initial story, "A Magnum For Schneider" (based on James Mitchell' stage play, and done as an Armchair Theater episode) Meres (played by Peter Bowles rather than Valentine) is asigned to keep an eye on Callan, and then set him up for the police to arrest once he's completed his  mission -- Callan promptly turns the tables and leaves Meres for the cops instead.  As a result Callan ends up with his dossier assigned to a Red File (hence the novel version being called A Red File For Callan; the movie adaptation, with Peter Egan as Meres, is just called Callan.)  The series generally partners Callan and Meres, with Callan as often as not managing to screw Meres over.  All the same, I wouldn't call Meres less skilled or less adept than Callan -- Callan's conscience often gets in the way, although he can summon a vicious coldness when he needs to.  If anything, Meres is sometimes a little exciteable because he enjoys his work.  Cross, on the other hand, was less adept and more vulnerable, which eventually causes his death.  Oh, and after Callan, brainwashed, kills a Hunter at the end of series two, it's Meres that shoots Callan -- and then proceeds to show concern and care, which is really rather freaky.

Damian Gordon writes, ""Drake and Meres" long shot really but the two names together remind me that a game not as often played as "was Number 6 really John Drake?" is "was The Equalizer Robert McCALL really David CALLan?"

Panel 4.  Gadgets and weapons contained in and concealed by James Bondâ??s pens are a recurring part of the Bond canon.

â??The Meâ?? Police Câ?? Georgeâ?? Died on tâ?? August 1898"
Philp & Emily Graves write, "The deceased Police Constable George D[   ] may very well be the one killed by Hawley Griffen back in LoEG V1I5. Furthermore (or alternatively) George D[   ] may be a reference to George Dixon of Dock Green, played by Jack Warner from 1955-76." Jonathan Carter and Christopher Reynolds wonder if this is a dedication to the policeman killed by the Invisible Man in League v2.

Panel 7. Philip & Emily Graves write, "In the 1967 (Actually around 9 years later) film "You Only Live Twice", Bond has a cigarette with shoots a jet-powered projectile."

Page 18. Panel 2. The obelisk is Cleopatraâ??s Needle, the celebratory obelisk originally constructed for Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, ruler of Egyptâ??s 18th Dynasty from 1504-1450 B.C.E.

Panels 2-4. â??Glamcabsâ? is a reference to the film Carry On Cabby (1963). Glamcabs is a taxi company in competition with Speedee Taxis, the service operating by Charlie Hawkins, Carry On Cabbyâ??s protagonist.

It is possible that the driver here is Anthea, from Carry On Cabby, played in the film by Amanda Barrie.

Panel 7. â??He must meet women with names like that all the time.â? As indeed Bond does.

Page 19. Panel 1. â??Birnley Fabricsâ? is a reference to the film The Man in the White Suit (1951). In the film Sidney Stratton invents a fabric, later called Birnley Fabrics after the mill owner who produces them, that never gets dirty or wears out.

Iâ??m assuming that the characters in this panel, as in many others in Black Dossier, are references to British comics, but Iâ??m unable to place the references.
Panels 3-5.  â??Mr. Kissâ? is a Michael Moorcockâ??s Mother London (1988), a novel about post-WW2 London. One of the main characters is fading theater performer and professional mind-reader Josef Kiss.

Page 20. Panels 2-8.  The landlady stumped me, but not you lot. Chris Roberson, usedcarsrus, and Ian Warren, among others, point out that "The landlady is clearly Mrs. Cornelius, from Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius stories and elsewhere, and her children the younger versions of Jerry, Frank, and Catherine Cornelius, who had the same sort of complicated, incestuous relationship hinted at here."

Panel 3. â??Anyroadâ? is a northern British variant of â??anyway.â?

Page 21. Panel 1. The â??Holborn Empire,â? a.k.a the Royal Holborn, a.k.a. Westonâ??s Music Hall, was a major music hall in Holborn, in central London.

Peter Sanderson notes that "Lewis and Clark" are a reference to "Al Lewis and Willie Clark, the fictional vaudeville team in Neil Simon's 1972 play "The Sunshine Boys," which was made into an MGM film released in 1975. "Lewis and Clark" were based on the real life vaudeville team of Smith and Dale (Joe Smith and Charles Dale)."

Iâ??m unable to place the â??Professor Donnolâ? reference.

â??Archie Riceâ? is a reference to the John Osborne play The Entertainer (1957), later made into the 1960 film The Entertainer. In the play and film Archie Rice is an aging, hard-luck vaudevillian entertainer.

If â??lifting you on wings of songâ? is a reference rather than just an entertainment catchphrase, Iâ??m unaware of it.

â??Fevversâ? may be a reference to the protagonist of Angela Carterâ??s Nights at the Circus (1984). Fevvers is a Cockney circus aeralist and showgirl who has wings.

Damian Gordon clears up my confusion: â??Mr. J. Stark The Incredible India Rubber Manâ? is a reference to Janus Stark, a Victorian superhero who appeared in the British comics Smash and Valiant (1969-1973). Stark has very rubbery bones, which gives him superheroic abilities which he uses to fight crime.

â??Comedy of â??rthur  -e Washboard -tkins with -er Drawersâ? is a reference to Paul Whitehouseâ??s character Arthur Atkinson, played by Whitehouse on the BBC tv show The Fast Show (1994-2000). Arthur Atkinson, a parody of real-life radio comedian Arthur Askey, is a nonsensical comedian, one of whose catchphrases is â??Whereâ??s me washboard?â? and one of whose characters is â??Chester Drawers.â? Pól Rua corrects my mistake: "Chester Drawers wasn't a character portrayed by Arthur Atkinson, but rather his less successful and put-upon second banana."
    Tim Anselm adds, "'The Fast Show' book revealed that Arthur Atkinson was a Nazi sympathiser (The 'Arthur Atkinson' story included an archive photo of Arthur with "the founding father of National Socialism himself". So presumably Mina got herself a bargain: the League-verse's Hynkel-worshipping 'Atkins' was surely unpersoned. Thank Goldstein for proles and their flea markets."

Panel 4. â??Or perhaps his tie-clipâ??s really a radio.â?
Iâ??m unaware of Bond ever having a radio transmitter in his tie-clip. However, such a device appeared in the American tv series Search (1972-1973). John Soanes and Dennis Walker note that, in "America," Simon and Garfunkel sang, "I said be careful his bowtie is really a camera."

Page 22. Panel 1. Damian Gordon corrects my confusion here: â??Bazâ? is a riff on the British laundry detergent Daz. Philip & Emily Graves and Guy Lawley, think that it is just Daz, and I'm reading it wrong. (Quite possible. Me old eyes just ain't what they used to be. And the rheumatiz is killin' me....) Mark Irons writes, "On pg. 22 p. 1, the laundry soap is definitely "Daz"; the box is seen in full panel 5 of the preceding page."

Panel 2. In 1984 an â??unpersonâ? is someone who has been killed by the government and had his existence officially deleted and erased from all records.

Panel 5. In 1984 â??pornosecâ? is a section of the Ministry of Truth that produces pornography.

Panel 6. The â??Adventures of Janeâ? was the movie version of Norman Pettâ??s comic strip â??Jane,â? which appeared in the British Daily Mirror (1932-1959). Jane is an ingenue who is often inadvertently disrobed. Also see the Tijuana Bible at the back of the Black Dossier. Guy Lawley writes, "The whole sequence of Mina undressing and bathing is a definite nod to the comic strip Jane, a very close echo of at least one (and probably several) sequence(s) in the strip; very close to the style of the strip too."

Panel 8. I realize that that is probably a tiger on the mug, but it might also be a reference to Korky the Cat, star of a comic strip in the British comic The Dandy from 1937 to 2005. Jonathan Carter and Myles Lobdell think that it's Tony the Tiger. Greg Baldino says, "yes, that is a box of Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger on it. It's based on the original version of the character drawn by Martin Provensen, who did the original Kelloggs' character designs." Philip & Emily Graves agree: "After a closer look, the 'mug' looks more like a box, further implying that this is less a concealed reference as simply a box of (Tony the Tiger emblazoned) Frosties, which first appeared in 1952 - although the design was different."

Page 23. Panel 1. The â??B.B. Yearsâ? is a reference to â??the Big Brother Years.â?

â??Cavorâ? is a reference to "Professor Selwyn Cavor," from H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon (1901). Cavor appeared in League v1.

Panels 3-4. â??...heâ??d been to Jamaica earlier this year...apparently he was there sparring with some mad scientist. Distant relative of our old Limehouse adversary, Iâ??m told.â?
This is a reference to Ian Flemingâ??s Dr. No (1958). In the novel Bond is sent to Jamaica to recover from having been poisoned by Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love. In Jamaica Bond comes into conflict with Dr. Julius No, a Chinese-German scientist and Russian agent.
    The implication that Dr. No is related to Fu Manchu is a new one, although, as Myles Lobdell points out, "Ian Fleming publicly admitted that Dr. No was directly inspired by his reading Sax Rohmer at Eton. See John Pearson's 1966 biography The Life of Ian Fleming." Neil Chester adds, " I was just wondering if the line about Dr No being related to Fu Manchu isn't, in part, sparked by the fact that Fleming wanted his cousin Christopher Lee to play Dr No and, of course Lee also played Fu Manchu."

Panel 5. â??I wonder if heâ??s still alive? The Devil Doctor?â?
    â??Not in England. The party purged Limehouse in â??48.â?
In The Shadow of Fu Manchu (1948) Fu Manchu has relocated to New York. He would not be active in Limehouse for a number of years.

Panel 7. "God, look at this dust! This hasn't been opened for ages."
Keith Kole writes, "Call me crazy, but I have to wonder if the Black Dossier didn't fall backwards through time. The last entries are dated 1957, one year before the story starts. How much dust can accumulate in a year?"

Panel 9. â??Are you sitting comfortably? Then weâ??ll begin.â?
â??Are you sitting comforably? Then Iâ??ll beginâ? was the opening phrase of Listen with Mother (1950-1982), a BBC radio program for children.

Jonathan Carter writes, "Mina and Allan reading the Black Dossier in bed might be a deliberate parallel to 1984's Winston and Julia reading Goldstein's book in bed."

Page 24.  This is all written in newspeak, with newspeak logic

Page 25. For more on â??H.W.â? see Page 83.

â??Greyfriarsâ? is a reference to Greyfriars School, from the hundreds (well over a thousand) of British story paper stories set there and written by â??Frank Richards,â? a.k.a. Charles Hamilton. Greyfriars is a British public school whose students, including Billy Bunter and the Famous Five, have a wide variety of adventures, from student revolts to attacks by Yellow Perils.
    Myles Lobdell notes, "Greyfriars School is most famously and originally from Thackeray's novels (the Newcomes among others).  It was not original to Charles Hamilton, although Hamilton did move the school from Surrey to Kent."

â??R.K.C.â? See Page 83.

The â??Holmes brothersâ? are a reference to Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock appeared in League v1 in flashback. Mycroft has appeared in both League volumes.

â??Bessy.â? See the notes to Page 86.  

â??Gerry Oâ??Brien.â? See the notes to Page 13, Panel 2.

â??Oliver Haddoâ? is a reference to W. Somerset Maughamâ??s novel The Magician (1907). Haddo was based on Aleister Crowley, and Crowley later used â??Oliver Haddoâ? as a pseudonym. In The Magician Haddo (a version of Dr. Moreau) attempts to use magic to create life.

â??Trumpâ? See Page 29.

â??Prosperoâ? is a reference to William Shakespeareâ??s The Tempest (1611). In the play Prospero, a wizard and the deposed Duke of Milan, gets up to hijinks on an island.

â??Fanny Hillâ? is a reference to John Clelandâ??s Fanny Hill, Or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1749). Fanny Hill, one of the most notable early works of English pornography, tells of Mistress Hillâ??s erotic exploits.

Iâ??ve been unable to determine whether â??Humphreysâ? is a reference to a real-life person or a fictional one, and to who. Myles Lobdell believes that it is a reference to "Mrs. Humphrey's, a print shop owner in late Georgian, Regency England.  Made famous in cartoons by Theodore Lane and James Gillray."

â??Les Hommes Mysterieuxâ? means â??The Mysterious Menâ? in French. â??Der Zwielichtheldenâ? means â??The Twilight Heroesâ? in German.

â??Rt. Hon. Bertram Woosterâ? is a reference to the immortal Jeeves & Wooster stories of P.G. Wodehouse. See Page 116 for more.

â??Joan Warralsonâ? is a reference to W.E. Johnsâ?? Worrals, who appeared in a number of stories in Girlâ??s Own Paper and eleven novels from 1940 to 1950. She is a smart, independent, patriotic, and fearless pilot for the Womanâ??s Auxiliary Air Force during World War Two. She is a member of the 1946-1947 League. (See Page 148 below).

â??Sal Paradyseâ? is a reference to Sal Paradise, the narrator of Jack Kerouacâ??s On the Road (1957). On the Road, the major novel of the Beat movement, is a stream-of-consciousness account of Kerouac and his friends traveling across America.

â??Dr. Sachsâ? is a reference the titular character of Jack Kerouacâ??s Dr. Sax (1959). Dr. Sax is a scientist who travels to Lowell, Massachusetts, to destroy the Great World Snake, a Jörmungandr-like monster.

Page 26/On the Descent of Gods 1. "Haddo is what you'd call a 'black magician' who worked for us during WWII."
Robert Scott Martin writes, "the specifics of Crowley's wartime activities are controversial, but a good account is here. (As trivia, the Ian Fleming connection apparently resulted in Le Chiffre from Casino Royale being based on this particular "shady character.")"

Myles Lobdell notes that "On the Descent of Gods' is taken from Charles Darwin's paeon to human evolution, the Descent of Man."

The â??fire at his Staffordshire estate in 1908â? is a reference to the finale of The Magician, in which Skene, Haddoâ??s mansion, burns to the ground.

"...finally died destitute in Hastings a few years ago in 1947."
Robert Scott Martin notes that Haddo shares a death year with Crowley.

I believe â??The Solsticeâ? is a reference to Aleister Crowleyâ??s magazine The Equinox (1909-1913, then intermittently). The Equinox is the official magazine of A:A:, the magic order Crowley established in 1907.

â??...my own Liber Logos, dictated by an unseen presence in Cairo during 1904.â? This is a further reference to things Aleister Crowley-an. â??Liber Logosâ? means â??Book of the Wordâ? and is an analogue for Crowleyâ??s own Liber Al vel Legis, the â??Book of the Law,â? which was supposedly dictated to Crowley by the Egyptian god Horus in Cairo in 1904.
    Jamaal White writes, "Liber legis was supposedly dictated by Aiwass (Crowley's holy guardian angel who in this case served as a middleman for 3 different gods nuit, hadit and ra hoor khuit (horus) although it did anounce the aeon of horus."

The â??Elohimâ? are, in Genesis 6:2, a kind of angel who take the â??daughters of menâ? for wives. Jason Adams writes, "In several cases in the Hebrew Bible, Elohim seems to refer to the God of Israel. (It is the third word in the Hebrew text of Genesis, for example.) In other instances, as you noted, it seems to refer to a class of angelic beings that came to Earth to mate with human women. I've read some theories that the use of Elohim, a word that can be a plural noun, in the early biblical texts is a remnant from even sacred texts of ancient polytheistic religious traditions of the Middle East. Additionally, the Raelian Movement (a UFO/sex cult) interprets Elohim to mean "those who came from the sky"--extraterrestrials that created life on Earth."

The â??Great Old Onesâ? are a reference to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. In Lovecraftâ??s â??Cthulhu Mythosâ? stories the Great Old Ones are a group of alien god-like beings of enormous size and power who transcend our understanding of time and space. They are currently imprisoned or sleeping but can be awakened by cultist worshipers.

â??Johannes Suttleâ? is a reference to â??Subtle,â? from in Ben Jonsonâ??s play The Alchemist (1610). Subtle is a rogue who poses as an alchemist.

In the fictional literary history of the Necronomicon (see below) as described by Lovecraft, the only reference to a 16th century translation is this, in Lovecraftâ??s â??The History and Chronology of the Necronomicon": â??A still vaguer rumor credits the preservation of a 16th century Greek text in the Salem family of Pickman; but if it was so preserved, it vanished with the artist R. U. Pickman , who disappeared early in 1926.â?

In the works of Lovecraft â??Abdul Alhazredâ? is the unfortunate 8th century Arab writer of the Al-Azif, which later became known as the Necronomicon (see below). Alhazred is known as the â??Mad Arabâ? in the Lovecraft stories, and for good reason.

â??Necronomiconâ? is a reference to the Necronomicon, which in the works of Lovecraft is a tome of forbidden knowledge so horrifying that it drives those who read it mad.

â??Yuggothâ? is, in the works of Lovecraft, another planet. In â??The Whisperer in Darknessâ? Lovecraft describes Yuggoth in this way:

Yuggoth... is a strange dark orb at the very rim of our solar system... There are mighty cities on Yuggothâ??great tiers of terraced towers built of black stone... The sun shines there no brighter than a star, but the beings need no light. They have other subtler senses, and put no windows in their great houses and temples... The black rivers of pitch that flow under those mysterious cyclopean bridgesâ??things built by some elder race extinct and forgotten before the beings came to Yuggoth from the ultimate voidsâ??ought to be enough to make any man a Dante or Poe if he can keep sane long enough to tell what he has seen...

â??Kutuluâ? is a reference to Cthulhu, one of the Lovecraftian Great Old Ones and a being trapped beneath the Pacific Ocean. â??Kutuluâ? is one of the variant spellings of Cthulhu.

â??A-Tza-Thothâ? is a reference to Azathoth, one of the Lovecraftian Outer Gods (more powerful versions of the Great Old Ones). Azathoth, the â??Blind Idiot God,â? is described in â??The Whisperer in Darknessâ? in this way: â??the monstrous nuclear chaos beyond angled space which the Necronomicon had mercifully cloaked under the name of Azathoth.â?

â??Shub-Niggurath,â? in the works of Lovecraft, is an alien being similar to the Great Old Ones. Shug-Niggurath is the â??Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young,â? a fecund being who gives birth to monstrosities.

â??Nâ??Yala-Thoth-Epâ? is a reference to Nyarlathotep, one of the Outer Gods in the Lovecraftian mythos. Nyarlathotep, a.k.a. â??The Crawling Chaosâ? and â??The Three-Lobed Burning Eye,â? is an ill-defined

...thought the article above that i found on the net would be of interest to all fans of this new book and to explain some of the referances...

Could you not have just posted a link?

Wow! Thanks!

...i always think it makes sence to have everything in one place, always think its lazy just posting a link...

That excerpt is just the very tip of the iceberg - Jess Nevins is as a god to our kind.  Some familiar names in the contributors list too!

 I (pathetically) take great pride in having my own name mixed in with hundreds of others in the acknowledgements of his Volume 1 annotations book. It may be all of me that will survive the fall of civilisation.

I've just finished the short-straw shift of the year - the latest one on January 1. Everyone else left four and a half hours ago!

Only my copy of the Black Dossier, and the annotations, have kept me sane. I've enjoyed working out which references I got and which I didn't.

Many thanks again!

- Trout

Arris2, where does that Festival of Britain poster come from? I'm using it as wallpaper and wonder if there's a site filled with similar posters.

yours offtopically,

Floyd

If there's 10 people here who don't have this and would pay £40 each for a copy I'll fly over and get them!!

Floyd, this stuff's also referenced in the dossier.

These are expensive, but it's an interesting product idea...

Link: Keep calm and carry on

Well it looks like I won't be getting this for a while.  I ordered from Amazon in France, with an inital estimated despatch date of November 13.  This was later amended to November 19, then again to January 18.  I received an email today saying the order was cancelled as the supplier was unable to provide it.  

O Trout, I was after the poster for wallpapers for my PC. Coincidentally, I saw the 'keep calm and carry on' stuff in our art gallery here when I went to see the 'Modern Britain' exhibition.

My local comic shop doesn't have the Black Dossier, but does have all sorts of other Moore goodness; is any of this recommended?

Link: Moore at Minotaur

Am I missing something here? Are you all talking about some special edition? If not, there are piles of this sitting in FP in Glasgow.

"Am I missing something here? Are you all talking about some special edition? If not, there are piles of this sitting in FP in Glasgow. "

Yeah it aint meant to be sold outside the states if I understand correct due to copyright laws? I've got it but aint got round to even opening it yet.

Yeah, got one from Gosh! They had quite a few left (£20).

If any of you Glasgow fellas are coming up to Hi-Ex next month could pick me one up, I'd swap it for money when I see you..?

Sorry I was planning on going to Hi-Ex but due to now moving house and wifes due date I cannae really get away with it.

Arrgh!
That's the whole weekend ruined now if you're not coming!!

Floyd, I really like Tom Strong and Captain Britain, and his Swamp Thing stuff's fantastic.

Much of the rest of it is good, but won't blow you away.

I have the Wildcats book due to come from Amazon, so I haven't read it yet.

- Trout

The collected DC universe stories are a class read too.

The collected DC universe stories are a class read too.

True - one of my favourite Moore collections.  Some classic O'Neill art in there too.

Yay, finally got a copy from Amazon in the States after being let-down by amazon.fr.  Cost $27.77 including postage to Switzerland, so that's just over fourteen quid.  I should imagine postage to UK would be the same (or less, if it's calculated on distance).

That's my weekend reading sorted.

"Arrgh!
That's the whole weekend ruined now if you're not coming!!"

What I meant was that I live in Glasgow and would have brought a copy if I were coming.

I wish I hadnt bothered now!

I know what ye meant..!

Just meant that it's shite that you can't make it up here!

Ok soz. I read it as a sarky comment. :-(

Yeah I've just got way too much on and when I brought the subject up again a few days back with the Mrs I was asked " Are you mental?".


Hope all goes well and hope theres another I can make it to.

Hope all goes well and hope theres another I can make it to.


Cheers!
We've already started planning... well thinking about, the next one!