A review by kurtwombat
From Hell by Alan Moore

5.0

Some time back I watched the movie based upon this graphic novel. It left me confused and disappointed (I could go on about unfortunate casting choices but I won’t). Since then I’ve wanted to read the graphic novel to get my footing back. Through maybe the first quarter of FROM HELL I was still confused and disappointed but then things clicked. I sunk into the atmosphere, felt a part of 1880’s London and was moved by the rhythms of poverty and power grappling in darkness. The dingy but distinct art work adds to the feel for old timey, grimy London. I have read complaints that the characters are difficult to tell apart. I did have some issues but for the most part enough clues were given to keep things straight (this can be an issue for any graphic novel not dealing with superheroes). This may have been designed to add to the anonymity of the poor as the more well off characters are much easier to distinguish. The artist Eddie Campbell also had to deal with period detail and an extensive dive into 1880’s London architecture and geography—his work highlighting a fantastic insanity laced jaunt around night time London touring the touchstones of Masonic power. In fact, this sequence is when I felt totally locked into the book. I tapped into Dr. Gull’s madness and the inevitability of it’s expression. At 3 or 4 lbs and over 500 pages it is an immersion. Moore masterfully unfolds this complicated tale of madness. There is no rush in the story, unfolding naturally, in rich mostly historical detail. The infamous murders at the heart of this story don’t come close to overshadowing the rest—and there is no rush to them or from them. Following the graphic novel there is 43 oversized addendum pages detailing where most every thoroughly researched detail in the graphic novel came from. This is so well done it’s like watching a making of documentary after a film. Moore tells you what is fact, what is interpretation and what is created to flesh out a readable tale. Fascinating. Then that is followed by a spirited gathering in graphic form of Moore and the authors of his resource materials battling the demons that arose from  handling the subject matter. All marvelous stuff and a great way to wrap this story up.