LXG 20th Century

I'm sure many of you are already aware of Alan Moore's incredible League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics series.  No, not the movie (which was pretty crappy except for the marvelous appearance of Peta Wilson as Mina Harker, Vampiress).  The comic series.

 

The concept is that Moore smashes up Victorian and Edwardian literary genres and characters into a wacky, somewhat steampunk universe.  It works exceptionally well, with Mina Harker and Alan Quartermain leading Captain Nemo, My. Hyde and the Invisible Man against Professor Moriarty and Fu Manchu.  Other adventures see the bizarre heroes fighting the Martians in a war of the worlds by recruiting Dr. Moreau.  Weird, wonderfully weird.

 

But there's no reason to limit the concept to classic British Lit.  Others have cobbled together (one hesitates to announce these avengers "assembled") line-ups from other eras and transferred the action across the pond.

 

Behold, LXG 1988!

 

Lisa (the science genie from Weird Science), Angus MacGuyver, Doc Brown (super-genius from Back to the Future), BA Baracus (the A-Team's muscle and trained Ranger/Green Beret), and Jack Burton (truck driving adventurer and personally acquainted with weirdness from Big Trouble in Little China).

And check out LXG 1996: Edward Scissorhands (a biological experiement), Sarah Bailey (a young witch with knowledge of The Craft), Tequila Yuen ( a Hard Boiled, detective from Hong Kong with balletic ballistic skills), FBI Agent Dana Scully (fresh from her work on the X-Files), Zach Morris (another youngster with an uncanny ability to stop time, from Saved by the Bell), and the enigmatic Rufus (from Bill and Ted's excellent Adventure).

Even more fun than imagining the adventures of these teams is guessing about how their predecessors, remembered in portraits on the wall behind them, fared on their missions.  I'm desperate to know what kind of conversation Egon Spengler had with Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod as they traveled in KITT.

Cute Firefly Cast

The Cute Serenity Crew will fight for freedom to be cute against the oppression of the dour, grey-clad Alliance Forces.

Jekyll; a BBC show with Joss Whedon Style

I'm sure I'll get in trouble with the Steven Moffat fans for comparing him to Joss Whedon, but I cut my teeth on Whedon-style, so that's the comparison I'll make.

Jekyll was a six-episode BBC series from 2007.  It was written by Doctor Who scribe, Steven Moffat, and starred James Nesbitt, an actor from Northern Ireland known in the UK for roles in Cold Feet and Murphy's Law.  Nesbitt played Dr. Jackman and his mysterious alterego, Hyde.  The show also featured Michelle Ryan, as a psychiatric nurse hired by Jackman & Hyde to assist them, and Gina Bellman as Claire Jackman, the doctor's wife.

I caught wind of the show while doing someo f my more eccentric online research on werewolves; the Jekyll and Hyde story is often considered a variation on the werewolf theme.  I was intrigued enough to track down a copy of the DVD set at the library and started watching.  Nesbitt is amazing as the title characters.  He wears very light prosthetics and manages the character change mostly through his acting and the acting of the supporting cast.

The plot is a sequel or continuation of the original story.  Dr. Jackman begins to experience episodes in which the Hyde persona emerges.  He realizes this is not a split personality, as the other persona actually exhibits different physical traits.  He then pursues the mystery and discovers a secret history and conspiracy afoot.

The writing is clever and in turns, dramatic, comedic, and scary.  Hence, I compare it to Joss Whedon's best work on Buffy and Angel. If you're into those shows, this is worth tracking down; you won't be disappointed.

Not to mention that Ryan and Bellman are HAWT!  Did I just print that?  Oh, well, too true not to point out.