From Hell, by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

Undeniably the most famous serial killer case in history would have to be the murders in Whitechapel in the autumn of 1888, 5 murders attributed to a killer known only as Jack the Ripper. While theories abound and almost every horror writer to pick up a pen has come up with some new twist on the Jack the Ripper myth--another sign of Jack's status, the huge amount of "fan fiction" written about him--over a century later, no one knows for certain just who was behind the murders. And it's very likely no one ever will. Myself, I grew tired with Jack the Ripper stories years ago. But if any writer in the world would have the skill to get me reading about this case again, it would be Alan Moore.

In the late 80s (1989), Alan Moore published his FROM HELL in comic format with black and white art from Eddie Campbell. Moore used dozens of references, taking theories from here, evidence from there, and hypotheses from elsewhere to create the definitive Jack the Ripper fiction. Moore's narrative is so convincing, so developed and detailed, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one day it were established as the truth, despite the already-numerous assertions to the contrary.

In FROM HELL, the Ripper is Dr. William Gull, Royal Physician in Extraordinary (or was it Ordinary? I can't remember, and I'll be damned if I can find it again in the book), is appointed the task of silencing five prostitutes who hold a secret capable of ruining the Royal family. It seems one of the family, Prince Albert Victor, under the name Eddy, married a sweetshop girl, Annie Crook, and fathered her child, Alice. When the Royal Family hears of this, Eddy is taken away and Annie is sent to an asylum. To keep the Royal baby a secret, Dr. Gull is charged with silencing the prostitutes who knew of Annie's marriage to "Eddy". What the Queen hadn't counted on was the relish with which Dr. Gull--a Freemason who saw the murders as some divine work--would go about his task.

Meanwhile, all of London is living in fear of the mysterious killer, forged letters are showing up at the police station, innocent people are being arrested for the crimes, and the police--the high-ranking officials, that is, who also happen to be Freemasons--know all about Dr. Gull and are protecting him until his task is complete.

Detective Abberline, formerly of Scotland Yard, is brought back to Whitechapel to investigate. He seems to be one of the only officers NOT in on the secret, so he honestly tries to solve the murders before the next body shows up.

Dr. Gull's madness escalates while Abberline's frustration grows until finally a psychic, Robert Lees, leads Abberline to where he believes the killer to live. Dr. Gull's wife answers the door.


Like I said, Moore's story is, according to Moore himself, merely fiction, culled from the hundreds of different theories and ideas as to who was Jack the Ripper and why did he do what he did. But Moore manages to take all these seemingly unrelated "facts" and meld them together in such a way, you're certain that's JUST what happened, right down to the religious experiences Dr. Gull has while working on his last victim, Mary Kelly.

FROM HELL was, as everyone knows, made into the movie starring Johnny Depp as Abberline and Heather Graham as Mary Kelly, but reading FROM HELL and watching it were two completely different experiences. Where the movie is written like a mystery, revealing the culprit only at the end while Depp and Graham make eyes at each other when Depp's not busy smoking heroin and drinking absinthe (two actions never once hinted at in the book--the Abberline in the movie couldn't be further from the "historical" Abberline of Moore's graphic novel if he HAD to), in Moore's original, it's never a mystery who Jack really is, because his identity is only a fraction of the story. The real suspense is in the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.

Seeing the Royal Family directly responsible for the killings, or seeing the police force as a part of the equation, knowingly letting the murders continue, that's the stuff that sets the tension in FROM HELL going. Watching the Freemasons pick their scapegoat after Dr. Gull confesses, watching how they silence the good doctor, that's the real story. FROM HELL is less about Jack the Ripper, and more about how Jack the Ripper was allowed to exist, almost demanded by royal decree to exist. Personally, I enjoyed the movie, but the movie had NOTHING on the book.

Moore's writing in FROM HELL, as with everything else he writes, whether V FOR VENDETTA, WATCHMEN, or MIRACLEMAN, is the best you'll find in the comics medium, hands down. And his collaboration here with Eddie Campbell is probably his most accomplished, not only in terms of the story he's telling, but how they've chosen to tell it. There are no captions, no "Meanwhile back at The Ringers" or "But before Abberline could stop him". Instead, there's dialogue and there's silence, leaving Campbell to tell the story with his visuals, and in the entire story there was never once I didn't understand what was going on for the lack of captions. Campbell's art is dark, not exactly beautiful but who'd expect it to be in a story like this, and always meets the challenge to describe whatever scene it is Moore's written without any help from the author's words to explain it to us.


I don't know if the original single issues of the story came with their own appendixes, but the collected edition is published with complete notes from Moore, almost page by page, on the historical references for where each scene, each detail, each line of dialogue comes from. And if it's a scene he's added strictly to tie together some threads, he admits that, too. Appendix 2 is an historical rundown of all the different theories on the identity of Jack the Ripper and who put forth those ideas.

FROM HELL just solidifies in my mind the genius of Alan Moore, and proves once again that there are people who write comics and Writers who choose comics as the medium through which to tell their stories. Moore falls into the latter category and FROM HELL will take you places you never thought a comic could go. Recommended 100%.