From Hell

I’ve read two Alan Moore graphic novels before this one: Watchmen and The Killing Joke. Both of these guys went on to become major successes as motion pictures. It’s obvious as what became of Watchmen, but The Killing Joke served as one of the primary influences for The Dark Knight. Director Christopher cites both Moore’s take of origin of the joker as well as the portion of Frank Miller’s career dedicated to Batman. From Hell also has a feature film counterpart - seated with A-list actors and a reputable team of directors - yet barely made more than $10 million at the box office (according to IMDB.com). I barely remember seeing the movie on DVD back in high school. I guess it wasn’t even strong enough to leave an impacting impression on me; however, I’ve heard this graphic novel is a must read for Moore fans. So, with only one year spent after buying the damn book, I’ve finally sat down and read it.

I really don’t know where or how to begin describing it. Disgusting? Violent? Breathtakingly poetic? Oh, wait... How about I explain the premise. As with the adaptation, the book centers around London during the late 19th century as Jack the Ripper haunts the prostitutes of the dreary East End streets while Inspector Abberline of Scotland Yard investigates his murders. That’s really all the movie and the book share. After this, they depart in entirely different directions. In the film (where Johnny Depp plays Abberline) none of the story - from what I can remember - focuses on Dr. William Gull, the killer named Jack the Ripper. Instead you follow Abberline, a opium-addicted psychic-detective, who falls in love with the prostitute Mary Kelly (Marie in the book) and races against the clock to find Jack before he strikes again, possibly killing his love. What the movie holds dear is to try and keep the audience guessing as to who Jack the Ripper will turn out to be. Moore’s graphic novel does none of that. Right from the first chapter we’re introduced to a young William Gull who we watch grow up and become the renown doctor to the Royal Family, which abruptly concludes as the doctor suffers a stroke that generates the terrifying hallucinations and visions of the future that leads him to his demented downfall. Although Abberline’s hunt for the killer is in place, he’s a very different man from the movie. Happily married, hating his job, and sober (at least with the drugs) he bares a very different man than the one Depp plays. (Also, he resembles more of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Watson than People’s Magazine: Sexiest Man Alive.) As the story dabbles with Abberline’s work, the majority follows Gull on his mission through - what he considers London to be - Hell.

I won’t get into the story any more than that, because I have to recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. Although Gull’s murders are terribly graphic and violent, accompanied by an arrangement of nauseating sex scenes between the dirty prostitutes of London, there’s a brilliant story woven here. By the end, you stand wondering whether Gull is truly a genius capable of spiritual enlightenment and escape from Hell (London), or just an insane sociopath.

I think I may take another look at the film adaptation again, just out of curiosity. Could it really be as bad as I remember? Considering the Hughes Bros. directed it (the same team from The Book of Eli) I’m going to say yes.