From Hell Hardcover – Illustrated, October 4, 2016

Amazing read and rich historical perspective. London was not a backdrop of a story, it was a living being with all its gloryI enjoyed every page of it.

Let's get one thing straight right from the start. This isn't really a story about Jack the Ripper. This is a story about one of the many conspiracy theories regarding the Ripper's true identity that, while it makes for entertaining fiction, bears little resemblance to reality. That doesn't mean this is a bad book; it just means that it needs to stand on its merits as a work of fiction since there's little pressure from reality to constrain its storytelling.As a work of fiction, From Hell wanders erratically between the near-genius and the nonsensical. It approaches genius when it brings life not only to Jack the Ripper himself, but also to his victims, the police investigating his crimes, and (as makes sense within the conspiracy theory being retold) his co-conspirators. It approaches the nonsensical when it meanders into lengthy ramblings about Freemason symbolism in London landmarks. Moore's purpose is clear: he wants to construct a view of history that combines the conspiratorial with the occult. Fair enough, but when a book requires a nearly fifty page appendix to explain its own symbolism, the story itself better delivery such emotional potency to justify the lack of explanation within the narrative itself.Unfortunately, perhaps this book's greatest failure is that it doesn't have that emotional potency. The fictionalized history is intriguing, the characters are interesting, the setting seems believable, and yet the reader can't help but feel (despite the occasional graphic depictions of violence) that this is a sterilized story of Jack the Ripper. The reason the Ripper has maintained his fame through the decades has more to do with his existence in the public mind as more of a phantom than a man than it does with the violence of his murders themselves. The explanation posited in this book reduces that phantom to a cog in the machinery of power. That view might be in concert with Moore's own political views, but for my money, Jack the Ripper is far scarier as an agent of pure chaos than as one of overreaching political order. But the story doesn't even focus on the crimes themselves in nearly as much detail as the conspiracy to cover them up. That makes for an entertaining bit of drama, but also distracts from what seems to me to be the real heart of the story.In terms of quality, Moore's writing is, as usual, top notch. Campbell's art, rendered in black and white, has a "sketchy" quality that adds a lot to the atmosphere of the story, though the "unfinished" quality of both the art and the lettering occasionally strain the eyes.At the end of the day, I'd heartily recommend this story to those who've been captured by the mystique of Jack the Ripper and want to explore one of the more outlandish theories regarding his identity. I would also recommend it for people who enjoy historical fiction or stories of political intrigue. I would not, however, recommend it for someone expecting a horror graphic novel about a serious of brutal murders.

In the late 1880s in Victorian London, a series of murders shocked Great Britain. Prostitutes from London's White Chapel district were turning up murdered - not only murdered, but viciously mutilated, carved up and left for display in the streets. The police were left with many clues but no idea as to who was responsible. The public, encouraged by daily newspapers and tabloids, went into a frenzy of fear, speculation and rumor-mongering, culminating when the killer sent a piece of a victim's liver to the police. After that, hundreds of fake letters, many written in red or blood, claiming to be from Jack the Ripper, streamed in to the London Police departments. Alan Moore, writer of such comics as V For Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the recently filmed Watchmen, wrote the novel From Hell, which was originally serialized as a comic book in 13 issues. (From Hell was also made into a movie in 2001 with Johnny Depp and Heather Graham, but like many other movies made from comics, should be avoided until after you've read the comic.)The comic begins many years after the murders, as the main investigator and a "psychic" look back on their lives and their roles in the events. If there was to be one main character, it would be Dr. Gull, physician to the Queen of England, and it turns out, an expert in human anatomy, surgery and deception. The story is highly sexual, with many highly suggestive scenes of sexual encounters between prostitutes, princes, married couples and the victims themselves. Each of the victims is introduced, and with the length of the novel approaching 600 hundred pages, much time is given to their stories, their work and their murders. One of the advantages of the graphic novel over a traditional book is the visual advantage that the comics give the reader. One scene in particular, of a murdered prostitute laying in the street, is shown over nine panels. The murder takes place in the first; by the third, strangers pass her by on the street; by the 8th and 9th panels, the police have discovered her body and a small crowd gathers to watch. While there is no sympathy extended to the serial killer himself, perhaps one of the most moving sequences in the book is when the killer, now captured and locked away in an insane asylum, moments before his death, sees his life flash literally before his eyes. It is even more convincing when you can see his life, his memories and his consciousness leaving his body, only to drift to the darkness and cold of his death. The style of artist Eddic Campbell is at first very minimalist, as it looks as if he scratched his quill pen to some stiff parchment. His drawings are moody and dark, his line work at times thick and solid, sometimes like scribbles. London itself sits back upon dark skies and the air of criminality, and the 1880s are depicted vividly with horse-drawn carriages, impressive architecture and the formal fashions of the day. From Hell is a fascinating story, a masterful graphic novel, which should be read by teens in high school or with their parent's approval.

Una obra imprescindible de la pluma de Alan Moore y el arte de Eddie Campbell

"Our lunatic were prophets once, and had a prophet's power"'From Hell' is a Historical Fiction that is beautifully crafted and smartly constructed, it manages to sell to the reader this story of who was 'Jack the Ripper', and yet - thanks to the amazing Appendix - it manages to make clear what is Fact and what is Fiction, meaning one can at the same time be immersed in this sea of fiction without loosing the sight of the shore of the reality known and documented. The first Appendix of this book is fundamental for the understanding of the Whitechapel Murders, being a great support for the book as a whole, I personally recommend reading this whilst reading the book itself. The second Appendix on the other hand may be better for after you finish the book, once it takes you back from the sea of speculative fiction and the idea presented by Moore of who is 'Jack the Ripper', being a great reminder of the actual known truth presented by the facts, and the less credible evidence presented by rumors.The book itself amazed me. The atmosphere is great (although a bit too graphic for my taste, as an asexual I could have gone without the explicit sex scenes, and yes I know I should have expected them ok). The thing it makes the story even more disturbing is how it is drawn, the sketchy black and white style makes you pay more attention to some certain scenes that I am sure no one wants to look at much. When it comes to the events and characters, lets just say that is classic Alan Moore. Being V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Killing Joke or From Hell, there is always a completely unhinged character with some ~interesting~ ideas to say the least. In this instance we have a combination of a bit of history with a bit of philosophy and a lot of crazy theories, making 'From Hell' perfect for the curious souls out there who love history, ~unusual~ theories, and more than bit of gore

Una historia magnífica sobre uno de los grandes asesinos de la historia en un comic lleno de traiciones, toques de misticismo y su buena dosis de conspiraciones. Estamos ante la interpretación de la historia de Jack el destripador por parte de Alan Moore, algo digno de leer si ya estas acostumbrado a cómics más allá de lo normal en marvel y DC ya que la historia se desarrolla de manera lenta y no veremos acción cada dos o tres viñetas ni un dibujo estilizado, estamos ante una historia que no teme tomarse su tiempo en plantear las bases de todo y explicarnos las motivaciones de nuestro protagonista con un dibujo que dependiendo de la situación que nos presente pasará de trazos toscos a trazos incómodos y crudos lo cual lo hace perfecto para el tipo de historia que nos narra el autor. Al final del tomo nos incluye explicaciones a varias de las cosas mostradas en el cómic para que tengamos un contexto o explicación de lo mostrado en varias viñetas ya que sin esto podríamos perdernos o no tomar importancia a mucho de lo que se ve en la historia y del mismo modo tenemos la historia detrás del mito, un artículo escrito por alan moore donde nos narra como fue evolucionando la historia de este asesino y del mismo modo como se crea y evoluciona la teoría en la que basa su obra. Dejando de lado la historia, arte y demás contenido, ya que podría pasar mucho rato hablando de este y lo bueno que es, hablaré brevemente sobre el comic como producto. La portada tiene un acabado mate sin barniz lo que le da una buena apariencia, el papel de interiores me atrevo a decir que es muy parecido al papel opalina, y por último el lomo es rígido así que al no curvearse al leerlo es posible que el tomo se llegue a despegar ligeramente de un costado quedando unido únicamente por el papel que una la pasta con el contenido del cómic.

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