La Ligue des gentlemen extraordinaires

In the early 2000s, writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill reimagined Victorian-era fiction with La Ligue des gentlemen extraordinaires, a four-issue series from Éditions USA that assembles iconic literary characters into a covert team. Published in 2001–2003, this genre-blending adventure explores a hidden world of pulp and classic adventure, with Moore's intricate plotting and O'Neill's detailed, expressive art defining its darkly inventive tone. It matters as a clever, influential deconstruction of shared universes, predating many modern crossovers by treating its borrowed heroes as flawed, real people in a gritty historical setting.