Nemo: Heart of Ice

Janni knows that her father cast quite the long shadow. Being the daughter of Captain Nemo could make you feel like you can never quite measure up, especially when following in dad's footsteps pillaging different lands.

Nemo: Heart of Ice is like a summer action flick: full of action, fast-paced, full of amazing things to look at. Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill have shown that at this point the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stories can and will be about anything that they please. That being said, I found Nemo to be much more immediately enjoyable than the wild ride that was LXG: Century. Whereas that series was so ambitious and wide ranging, it was really nice to see everything so settled down for this latest graphic novel. This is not Alan Moore writing in the way that he usually does. You could almost suspect him of dialing it in but it still is a grand adventure story. 

Janni has a crew on the Nautilus just as her father once did. She is obviously full of ambition and decides that it is time to do something amazing. "It's about finding some purpose that's more than just piracy," she says. "Ready, the Nautilus...she's going back to the South Pole."

Unfortunately for Janni, others are chasing the Nautilus into Antarctica in order to sabotage them. What follows is a game of cat and mouse in a wondrous and newly discovered location in Antarctica. Some particularly nonhuman ancient buildings and artifacts are uncovered, but that doesn't mean that there are any concrete answers given.

Janni's mission of exploration does not end particularly well. Lives are lost, dangers are met, and by the end of it all it seems that Nemo's daughter is too rattled to try it all again. Sure, it is a realistic outcome, but I wish that Janni was stronger and that she could pick herself up again by the last page. I don't know what the next phase of plans is for the LXG tapestry, or if one even exists at this point, but I sincerely hope that we get to see more of the exploits of Janni. I really liked her character and her strength up until everything went awry toward the end.

Alan Moore let his artistic partner show off even more than in any previous LXG outing. I think it is safe to say that there were never more splash pages in one of their earlier books. Moore provides the space for O'Neill to dazzle with his great landscapes and dizzying alien monuments. Heart of Ice is a book that is thrilling just to look at, and if it is in fact a quick read, it is well worth the price to go back and pore over the illustrations.

Of course there are always some "guest appearances" in any book in the series, and this one sees a visit from none other than "She" from H. Rider Haggard's novel. It's probably just because I have fond memories of the novel that I was so glad the character was included in this comic.

Overall I found myself really hoping that there is more LXG in this style coming down the pike. This was a straightforward adventure yarn, and all of the excesses of Century have been whittled down.