The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LoEG) is a team made up of heroes (and sometimes some villains) from literature and pop culture. Created by one of my favorite writers, Alan Moore, the LoEG is one of my favorite concepts. I love the idea of these famous literary characters having side adventures and team ups, just like comic book super heroes! There was a movie some years ago that I actually enjoyed, but it didn't perform well and was met with a lot of critical backlash. That lineup consisted of Allan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man II, Mena Harker, Dorian Grey, and Tom Sawyer. This is only one version of the team, some past members include; Huck Finn, Sherlock Holmes, John Carter, Campion Bond (James Bond's grandfather), James Bond himself, Santa Claus, Judah Ben-Hur, and even Beowulf! Here is the lineup Jimmy and I went with:
Allan Quatermain - from H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and it's sequels. He is a professional big game hunter, when that was a big deal, from England who prefers the wilds of Africa over the cities and landscape of the UK. He is a master marksmen, and can hit a target from hundreds of yards away. He's an old man, and wiry, but (and we're going with how the movie writes him here) he's been blessed by African Witchdoctor's that say "Africa will not let Allan Quatermain die"; and therefore is somewhat immortal.
Captain Nemo - from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He is a scientific genius that travels the world in his submarine the Nautilus. He's one of the most famous anti-heroes in literature and is painted as a possible pirate in the LoEG movie. He's also a master swordsman, and an expert in hand-to-hand combat.
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - from the famous novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which was one of my favorite reads when I was a kid. For this tournament we're sticking with the comic book version, so Jekyll/Hyde work as the strong guy of this group. When Jekyll takes a formula he created, his body goes into an incredible physical and mental change. Mentally he becomes Mr. Hyde, a hulking brute with rather violent tendencies. Physically he is the strongest member of the team, but his strength has limits. For instance, he's not as strong as the Hulk, but comparable to say The Thing, and in his Hyde form he has increased durability. But he is mentally unstable and could easily lose control.
James Bond - the most famous secret agent of all time! I'm pretty sure everyone is at least aware of James Bond and his adventures. His adventures were novels first before they became the famous movie series they are now. James Bond is so great at what he does, that we couldn't pick a version of Bond that was better than the other. So we're going with personal preference. So think of the Sean Connery version of the Gentlemen Spy. A master marksman, expert hand-to-hand combatant, and master spy skills, plus expert tactician and strategist. The combo of leadership between Nemo and Bond should lend well to this team.
The Invisible Man II (Hawley Griffin) - in H.G. Wells' novel The Invisible Man is about how Dr. Griffin invents a serum that makes him invisible and his descent into madness from it. In the movie and comic book LoEG, Griffin is a thief that stole the serum from the original Invisible Man and uses it for his own benefits. Griffin is constantly invisible and can't switch it off. In order to appear to other people, he covers his face in make up, wears a long trench coat, dark glasses, and gloves, sometimes he wraps himself in gauze. When not wearing his clothes, he is completely invisible, only leaving footprints behind at times. The Invisible Man could be a great asset in a fight, especially if his opponents have no idea where is at at any time.
Mina Harker - from Bran Stoker's Dracula, as the LoEG story goes; after the events of Stoker's novel, Mena and her husband were bitten by Dracula and turned into vampires. Her husband died many years ago, but Mina embraced her change and uses her abilities for good and joined the LoEG, even became their leader. As a vampire, Mina Harker can fly, communicate with bats, transform into mist as well as a bat and a wolf. She also has super human strength and speed, and increased durability. Since Mina is a vampire then she is technically undead, which makes her very difficult to kill or even simply injure. Her only real weakness is her hunger for human blood, which could be an asset in a fight to the death. It should be interesting to talk about Mina Harker taking on the Lord of Vampires, Count Dracula!
Harry Potter - yeah, I know what you're saying, "are you serious?" Well, I am hahaha. I looked up a list of former members of the LoEG and imagine my surprise to not only see Harry Potter on the list but also Vinnie Chase from Entourage and Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock! So, after seeing those two, Harry Potter made a ton of sense. Let's think about how great of an asset and how powerful Harry is. He faced and beat Voldemort in the novels, who was the most powerful wizard of all-time (maybe 2nd to Dumbledore) in the wizarding world. After the events of the novels, Harry grew up to be an Auror, a kind of wizard cop that investigates and fights evil wizards. His battle with Voldemort made him famous, but he went on to lead a very heroic life. According to his exploits with LoEG, Harry was a total bad ass but lived a dark life. He was scarred by a man named Oliver Haddo (who possessed the body of Tom Riddle aka Voldemort), which sent Harry on his path in the novels. Later, he discovered the truth, which traumatized him to the point that he slaughtered all of the students at his beloved Hogwarts, and beheaded Habbo, keeping his still living head in a cage. His scar was actually the mark of the beast and led him to become the Anti-Christ who was later defeated by God who had taken the form of Mary Poppins. Holy shit, this sounds crazy right? Crazy awesome! I HAVE TO FIND THIS!
The Odds:
The LoEG's first round match up was purely random, but fits perfectly! Each member possesses some ability that boosts the entire team, combining the physical power of Hyde, Nemo, Quatermain, and Harker the stealth of the Invisible Man, plus the smarts of Quatermain, Bond, Nemo, and Jekyll, and also adding the supernatural might of Harry Potter and Mina Harker; this team could be the dark horse group that can sneak it's way into the next few rounds. Will see how they fair against their first opponents: the Universal Studios Movie Monsters which will be a lot fun to talk about. But if they make it to the second round, they're looking at some really tough competition!
No comments:
Post a Comment