Reviews with content warning for Medical content - From Hell

I read Moore's Watchmen last year and was really looking forward to reading more of his work.

Knowing very little about the Whitechapel Murders, this book was a very good introduction to the subject. Extremely graphic too, so beware! I appreciated the appendices at the end which explain a lot of details that might not come as obvious to someone not familiar with Victorian London (or London all together), with many expressions, the author's though process and the choices made in different panels throughout the book. That was clever and of great help!

Content Warnings

lautreamont's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

roenfoe's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

As someone who greatly enjoyed V for Vendetta and Watchmen, I knew I would eventually read From Hell. I went into it almost completely blind, unaware that it was an examination of the Jack the Ripper mythos. From Hell is easily the most well-thought-out comic I have ever read, and is certainly better written and researched than many regular history books. Moore balances an absurd dedication to historical fact and detail with invented elements (such as supernatural architecture and hallucination) that establish From Hell as a wholly unique work of Jack the Ripper fiction.

While I often found the art style muddy, ugly, and difficult to read, it reflects the time and place in which the story occurs. It was appropriately filthy, irreverent, and dark.

Intriguing themes abound; power, class dynamics, the occult, and female sexual liberation and slavery.

The time travel/premonition (?) aspect of Dr. Gull's story was a shock to the system; especially his commentary on the "hell" that a modern person inhabits. We would consider "his" world to be horrible and not worth living in... while he finds our white collar wage slavery even more repulsive.

From Hell wasn't perfect; at times it was a slog. At the end of each chapter I would spend an equal amount of time reading footnotes about mundane street names and obscure tertiary characters. Overall, though, it remained extremely compelling. I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

Content Warnings

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

jmbz38's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Content Warnings

anime917's review against another edition

Go to review page

I couldn't understand any of the language and the whole story was just a conspiracy theory on who Jack the Ripper is. 1 star

Content Warnings

More...