The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

In 1898 the British government recruits a team of extraordinary individuals: Mina Murray from Dracula, the adventurer Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll (and his other half) and the Invisible Man. None of them is a gentleman, and their first mission involves a war between rival criminal masterminds over the skies of London. The second volume sets them against the Martian invasion from The War of the Worlds.

Moore and O'Neill packed every page with references to Victorian fiction, and the joy of spotting them is part of the fun, though the story works without them. O'Neill's spiky, grotesque art is perfect. The 2003 film is so bad that it is said to have persuaded Sean Connery to retire, and should be avoided. Readers of the SFcrowsnest steampunk guide will be right at home.