Nemo: River of Ghosts

This is the final volume in the “Nemo” trilogy of graphic novellas spun off from Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”. It’s the least of the three, but not because of the story that’s being told. Taking place in 1975, Janni Nemo is now a very old woman looking to settle one last score. After finding out that the immortal Queen Ayesha is still alive, having apparently survived her beheading by Nemo in the previous volume, the aged captain mounts one last trip with the Nautilus to the inlands of South America. What she finds there is completely unexpected, but if you’re familiar with The “Boys From Brazil” you might have an inkling about what’s coming. There are also references to “The Creature From the Black Lagoon,” “The Stepford Wives,” and uh… You know, that’s all I was really able to pick out for this volume. Whether or not Moore didn’t want to draw on more obvious touchstones in fiction from the era, or he’s saving them for a future project, this is the first “League” story were taking in the references isn’t half the fun. Oh they’re there, to be sure. It’s just that you’re likely going to have to rely on information from outside sources to realize what they are. As I did when it came to finding out about Mr. Coughlan’s strange history.

Even if the references don’t provide a whole lot of entertainment here, the story itself is entertaining on its own terms. It may be this Nemo’s last journey aboard the Nautilus, but it’s one full of high adventure, tragedy, and hope for the future. There’s also tension in the fact that this whole trip may be based upon information processed by the captain’s slowly deteriorating mind. That said, the sights along the journey involve a sacred cow pie, a T-rex being punched right out, bikinitrons being violently dissassembled, and a final moment with Nemo that’s worthy of her stature. Most of those moments involve Mr. Coughlan who, convoluted history aside, emerges as the breakout character in this volume as he never loses his fun and easygoing nature in the face of impossible odds.

The volume may be slim, but Moore packs a lot of character detail into it, with the subplot involving Nemo’s grandson being the most affecting. O’Neill also turns in another stellar effort, making all of the disparate ideas in the book — sea creatures, dinosaurs, fighting female robots, an old woman’s ghosts — all look like they belong in the same universe. “River of Ghosts” is an entertaining story for these reasons, even if this is the first “League” book where its core concept didn’t really add all that much to it.