From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

Several months ago, I began amassing a large number of desirables into my shopping cart on Amazon.com. "From Hell" was on of those desirables. Being the recent recipient of much lucre I swiftly purchased the novel and set about cresting the summit of its vast contents (it is roughly 3 inches thick). The topic of Jack the Ripper has been explored and shared the world over, the mystery surrounding the deaths of 5 women defeating many investigators who would lay the case to rest. There are many who have crafted fictions about the reprehensible "Jack", cashing in on the speculating and sensationalizing media and masses. Of any such works, I believe that "From Hell" stands alone in the forefront, a tribute to the man and the myth born in the fall of 1888.I refuse to dissect the story-line of this deep and twisted thriller, that is not the intent of my review. Instead I will comment upon the aspects that best conveyed the tale, acting as coach to the character passengers.Pros:1) On
e can easily ascertain that Alan Moore did not take this subject matter lightly. The amount of research that a work such as this must have taken is unconscionable. Throughout my entire reading of the novel, I ALWAYS felt that the fabric of the tale was very thick and skillfully woven. No bit of historic content was smudged or skipped as one wound their way across its surface.2) The dialogue was masterfully superb. Accents were simple to read but expressive in their delivery (unlike reading Hagrid's lines in Harry Potter). It dawned on me that it must be immensely difficult to compose an entire novel of dialogue, but Alan never allowed me to believe that he struggled with the task. There is NO NARRATOR in the story, but the novel feels no lack because of this.3) The plot was exciting and detailed, each player forwarding the tale in intriguing and meaningful ways. I admit that it took about 50 pages to get to the main plot, but once it was revealed, the rest of the read felt f
ast invigorating.Cons:1) 'Tis a bit of a disappointment. The art is PERFECT for the subject matter. Its dark and brooding, old-fashioned in its strokes, and outdated by ALL modern comics. But that was also the tales largest flaw. Because the art was not as uniform as it could have been the characters were hard to identify and recognize. The incredible number of characters that are introduced added to this pen-scratched mayhem. It caused frustration at times.2) I understand that the novel is about prostitutes, but I felt as though there was sex in places where there was no need for sex. Some scenes would end in a sexual encounter when I could not have forseen a need for such a display in the plot. It was just a peccadillo to my reading taste.

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