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"Gods of Annihilation": July, 1898

Quote1 Put up your fists, and soon we'll see the cut of your jib! Quote2
Edward Hyde

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #4 is an issue of the series League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1999.

Synopsis for "Gods of Annihilation"

July, 1898
Allan Quatermain and Mina Murray scale down a dangerous ladder leading deep into the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Hawley Griffin makes his entrance through an easier egress. They witness Fu Manchu being carried about on a litter. One of Fu Manchu's men finds Quartermain and Mina, but Griffin comes up behind him and slices the thug's throat open. Griffin later meets up with Henry Jekyll outside and tells him to create a diversion so Allan and Mina can sneak past Fu Manchu's guards and steal the Cavorite. Jekyll transforms into Hyde and begins slaughtering the Chinese guards. For reasons unknown, Mister Hyde's preternatural senses allows him to see Griffin's heat signature.

Quartermain and Mina succeed in finding the Cavorite engine and steal it. But Fu Manchu's men discovers them and begins attacking. They trap them inside of a sealed chamber which begins flooding with water. Mina is forced to activate the Cavorite device, launching them upwards out of the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Captain Nemo picks them up in the Nautilus.

They regroup and report back to Campion Bond's office at the British Museum. Strangely though, Hawley Griffin has disappeared. Moments later, Campion leaves the group and reports to his superior M. M is revealed to not be Mycroft Holmes, as Mina once suspected, but instead, he is actually Professor James Moriarty—arch nemesis of Sherlock Holmes.

Appearing in "Gods of Annihilation"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Broad Arrow Jack (Single appearance)
  • Ishmael (Single appearance)
  • Selwyn Cavor (Single appearance) (Behind the scenes)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:


Synopsis for "Allan and the Sundered Veil (Part IV) - The Abyss of the Lights"

The Time Traveller desperately tries to angle the time machine through the time stream. The Morlock still has a hold of Quatermain and slashes him across the shoulder. Allan beats him back with a monkey wrench until the creature finally falls away. The Traveller gets the time machine back on course until they settle through an environment of giant glass-like cube prisms. Staring into one, Allan sees visions of the future. He sees himself in an opium den with a woman standing over him.

Appearing in "Allan and the Sundered Veil (Part IV) - The Abyss of the Lights"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Morlocks (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

  • Time Traveller's Time Machine

Vehicles:

  • None

Notes

  • Shipping was delayed for this issue and did not reach stands until September, 1999.
  • The above quotation is taken from the cover to this issue, but is not actually spoken in the main story.
  • On page 1 of this issue, two of Captain Nemo's deckhands introduce themselves as Ishmael and Broad Arrow Jack. Ishmael was one of the central figures in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Like in the novel, he is introduced in the very beginning of the story with the famous line "Call me Ishmael". Broad Arrow Jack (seen with a black arrowhead tattooed on his back) was the creation of E. Harcourt Burrage. He appeared in a series of penny dreadful novels in 1866.
  • First appearance of M. Although not clearly identified in this issue, M is intended to be Professor James Moriarty. Moriarty is the nemesis of famed London detective Sherlock Holmes. Although he is an important figure in Holmes mythology, the character has only appeared in two novels, The Final Problem and the Valley of Fear. The events of The Final Problem are recapped in the opening chapter of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #5.
  • When Nemo speaks of "playing games with destruction", he is seen holding up a statue of the Hindu death god Kali.
  • This issue reveals that Mister Hyde can see Hawley Griffin's body heat. In addition to his exaggerated size, this is a power Hyde before possessed in the original Robert Louis Stevenson story.
  • The symbol of the Freemasons can be seen outside the entranceway to the Military Intelligence Division building, and also on the door to M's office. This is not the only vehicle through which Allan Moore has drawn ties between the British government and the Freemasons. He also uses the Freemasons as a key element in his From Hell graphic novel.

Trivia

  • On page 9, two adjoining panels showing the shelter that Allan and Mina stayed at in issue #3 appears to form the words "Helter Skelter". Aside from being the title to a Beatles song, whatever significance, if any, this reference has in relation to the series is unknown. It is possible that the clipped positioning of the words may merely be an act of coincidence.


See Also

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