Allan and the Sundered Veil
Encyclopedia
Allan and the Sundered Veil was a six-part story written in the style of a boy's periodical by Alan Moore
and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill
, included at the back of each issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
and collected at the back of that volume. It serves as a prequel to the comic.
, following his 'death,' returns to his friend, Lady Ragnall, to partake of the taduki drug she has (both are from the Allan Quatermain novels of H. Rider Haggard
's - referenced as an author who has written about Quatermain). One point of interest is the fact that, though Quatermain only faked his death, he no longer has a shadow (at least during the first part of the Sundered Veil), as shown on the picture in which he is greeted by Lady Ragnall's servant (he seems to retrieve it when entering the Sphinx, though). Quatermain takes the drug and enters into a dream-world, encountering the equally-lost John Carter
(from Edgar Rice Burroughs
' Barsoom
novels) and his grandnephew, Randolph Carter
(from H. P. Lovecraft
's Cthulhu Mythos
) - however, both Carters are only blood-related in Alan Moore's story. Strange creatures begin to attack them but they are saved by the arrival of a pulsing electric machine piloted by a man known only as the Time Traveller (from H. G. Wells
' The Time Machine
).
They arrive at the Sphinx from The Time Machine, and the Time Traveller explains that they are there because creatures from beyond the universe are invading creation through a hole in space-time. They are attacked by albino creatures known as both Morlock
s (from The Time Machine) and Mi-go
(from the Cthulhu Mythos). Quatermain beats them off as the time machine takes off, but one clings on and damages the ship. Destabilized, the time machine is drawn towards a "chrono-crystal aleph" (from Jorge Luis Borges
's The Aleph) and the riders all see visions from their pasts and futures.
Quatermain sees his first meeting with Mina Murray
from the first League issue; a sojourn with Sir Henry Curtis
; the final battle against Professor Moriarty
's ship from the end of the first League volume; Mr. Hyde's destruction of a Martian Tripod from the end of the second League volume
; and he, Randolph, and Mina's encounter with a Lovecraftian monster as related in The New Traveller's Almanac
. Randolph sees a vision of Arkham
. John Carter sees a vision of him fighting a Green Martian and winning Dejah Thoris
as she rides a Greater Thoat mount (from the Barsoom novels). What, if anything, the Time Traveller sees is not mentioned (then again, it may be argued that the Time Traveller no longer belongs to the Time Stream, anyway ... or even never belonged, in the first place).
Randolph and John soon disappear to their visions upon realizing that they're not bound to their realm, leaving only Quatermain to help the Time Traveller against their enemy. However, Quatermain becomes possessed by Ithaqua
(the Cthulhu Mythos incarnation of the Wendigo
) and returns to his realm. He kills Lady Ragnall before her African servant, Marisa, is able to free Quatermain using her tribe's precautions against the Great Old Ones. Appalled, Marisa flees the burning manor, taking the taduki with her.
Despondent at the loss of his friend and his drug, Quatermain spends the next few years drifting, eventually ending in Cairo
. The story ends with him looking up from his drugged stupor into Mina Murray's face (as occurred in the League issue 1 and as he foresaw in his vision) as he is unwillingly - but fatefully - recruited into the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
.
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill
Kevin O'Neill (comics)
Kevin O'Neill is an English comic book illustrator best known as the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .-Early career:...
, included at the back of each issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. It is the first story in the larger League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series...
and collected at the back of that volume. It serves as a prequel to the comic.
Plot
Allan QuatermainAllan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various prequels and sequels. Allan Quatermain was also the title of a book in this sequence.- History :...
, following his 'death,' returns to his friend, Lady Ragnall, to partake of the taduki drug she has (both are from the Allan Quatermain novels of H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
's - referenced as an author who has written about Quatermain). One point of interest is the fact that, though Quatermain only faked his death, he no longer has a shadow (at least during the first part of the Sundered Veil), as shown on the picture in which he is greeted by Lady Ragnall's servant (he seems to retrieve it when entering the Sphinx, though). Quatermain takes the drug and enters into a dream-world, encountering the equally-lost John Carter
John Carter (character)
John Carter is a fictional character, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who appears in the Barsoom series of novels. Though actually a Virginian from Earth and a visitor to Mars, he is often referred to as "John Carter of Mars" in reference to the general setting in which his deeds are recorded, in...
(from Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
' Barsoom
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
novels) and his grandnephew, Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
(from H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
) - however, both Carters are only blood-related in Alan Moore's story. Strange creatures begin to attack them but they are saved by the arrival of a pulsing electric machine piloted by a man known only as the Time Traveller (from H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' The Time Machine
The Time Machine
The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 for the first time and later adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction...
).
They arrive at the Sphinx from The Time Machine, and the Time Traveller explains that they are there because creatures from beyond the universe are invading creation through a hole in space-time. They are attacked by albino creatures known as both Morlock
Morlock
Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel, The Time Machine. They dwell underground in the English countryside of 802,701 AD in a troglodyte civilization, maintaining ancient machines that they may or may not remember how to build...
s (from The Time Machine) and Mi-go
Mi-go
The Mi-go are a race of extraterrestrials in the Cthulhu Mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft and others. The name was first applied to the creatures in Lovecraft's short story "The Whisperer in Darkness" , taking up a reference to 'What fungi sprout in Yuggoth' in his sonnet cycle Fungi from Yuggoth...
(from the Cthulhu Mythos). Quatermain beats them off as the time machine takes off, but one clings on and damages the ship. Destabilized, the time machine is drawn towards a "chrono-crystal aleph" (from Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
's The Aleph) and the riders all see visions from their pasts and futures.
Quatermain sees his first meeting with Mina Murray
Mina Harker
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 horror novel Dracula.- In the novel :She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young school mistress who is engaged to Jonathan Harker, and best friends with Lucy Westenra...
from the first League issue; a sojourn with Sir Henry Curtis
Sir Henry Curtis
Sir Henry Curtis is a fictional character in a series of adventure novels by H. Rider Haggard. His Zulu name is Incubu, which means "Elephant". He is the constant companion and fellow traveler of Allan Quartermain....
; the final battle against Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
's ship from the end of the first League volume; Mr. Hyde's destruction of a Martian Tripod from the end of the second League volume
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics...
; and he, Randolph, and Mina's encounter with a Lovecraftian monster as related in The New Traveller's Almanac
The New Traveller's Almanac
The New Traveller's Almanac was a series of writings included in the back of all six issues of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II, covering the timeline and the world of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen....
. Randolph sees a vision of Arkham
Arkham
Arkham is a fictional city in Massachusetts, part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft and is featured in many of his stories, as well as those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers....
. John Carter sees a vision of him fighting a Green Martian and winning Dejah Thoris
Dejah Thoris
Dejah Thoris is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Martian novels. Princess of the Martian city state/empire of Helium, Dejah Thoris is the love interest and later the wife of John Carter, an Earthman mystically transported to Mars, and subsequently the mother of their son...
as she rides a Greater Thoat mount (from the Barsoom novels). What, if anything, the Time Traveller sees is not mentioned (then again, it may be argued that the Time Traveller no longer belongs to the Time Stream, anyway ... or even never belonged, in the first place).
Randolph and John soon disappear to their visions upon realizing that they're not bound to their realm, leaving only Quatermain to help the Time Traveller against their enemy. However, Quatermain becomes possessed by Ithaqua
Ithaqua
Ithaqua is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The titular creature debuted in August Derleth's short story "Ithaqua", which was based on Algernon Blackwood's tale "The Wendigo"....
(the Cthulhu Mythos incarnation of the Wendigo
Wendigo
The Wendigo is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans...
) and returns to his realm. He kills Lady Ragnall before her African servant, Marisa, is able to free Quatermain using her tribe's precautions against the Great Old Ones. Appalled, Marisa flees the burning manor, taking the taduki with her.
Despondent at the loss of his friend and his drug, Quatermain spends the next few years drifting, eventually ending in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. The story ends with him looking up from his drugged stupor into Mina Murray's face (as occurred in the League issue 1 and as he foresaw in his vision) as he is unwillingly - but fatefully - recruited into the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
.
Relative chronologies
Among the characters the story takes place at various points in their lives:- Allan Quatermain: after his 'death' in Allan Quatermain but before the first League volume
- Randolph Carter: during his titular dream quest in The Dream-Quest of Unknown KadathThe Dream-Quest of Unknown KadathThe Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
- John Carter: after his departure from Earth but before his arrival at MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
in A Princess of MarsA Princess of MarsA Princess of Mars is a science fiction novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. It is also Burroughs' first novel, predating his famous Tarzan series. Full of swordplay and daring feats, the novel is considered a classic example of 20th century pulp fiction... - The Time Traveller: following his return to the future at the end of The Time Machine