I know what children look like, Nemo. I've often scraped them off my boots. 
- — Edward Hyde
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 2) #4 is an issue of the series League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 2) with a cover date of February, 2003.
Synopsis for "All Creatures Great and Small"
A family traveling by train is all killed by a Martian tripod except for the son, who is rescued by Captain Nemo and the crew of his submarine. A gun aboard the Nautilus takes down the tripod. Through conversation between Nemo and Edward Hyde we learn that one of the aliens was defeated by artillery in Shepperton. Nemo tasks his crew with bringing the wreckage of the tripod aboard, so that he can study the alien technology.
In the meantime, Allan Quatermain and Wilhelmina Murray are walking in tall grass toward a forest, in search of a scientist who may be able to help against the alien invasion.
Back in England, Nemo puts the Nautilus to port and leaves the rescued boy, Jimmy Grey, in the hands of the local constabulary.
Mina and Quatermain meet a man named Teddy Prendrick who begins talking to them about a devil doctor and his island. After conversing, the man becomes nervous, warns the two not to follow him and takes off in the opposite direction. Mina and Quatermain determing that the doctor Prendrick mentioned is the very same scientist that they are seeking and that he must be nearby. They begin searching the woods for him as an unknown creature is secretly stalking them.
Back in England, the city is under attack by the tripods. Nemo is coordinating the counterattack.
Now night, Quatermain and Mina have retired to a room in their inn where they make love for the first time.
At the same time, aboard the Nautilus, Hyde is repeatedly punching the wreckage of the tripod they destroyed earlier in the day and miles away, Griffin is showing the aliens that what is stopping them is a submarine and that they must do something to the river to overcome this obstacle. After Mina and Quatermain have made love, Quatermain sees bite marks on Mina's necks. She remarks that they are not the discreet two puncture marks of legend. In fact, they are much more gruesome.
Appearing in "All Creatures Great and Small"
Featured Characters:
- Allan Quatermain
- Wilhelmina Murray
- Captain Nemo
- Edward Hyde
Supporting Characters:
- Ishmael
- Broad Arrow Jack
- Jimmy Grey
Villains:
- Hawley Griffin
- Martians
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Blackfriars Bridge
Items:
- Heat-Ray
Vehicles:
- The Nautilus
- Martian tripods
Notes
- Jimmy Grey is the young and soon to be Professor Grey, the father of Danny and Penny Gray, from the comic strip The Iron Fish. The adult Grey later makes a small appearance in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier as a member of the failed 1940s League.
Trivia
- The tripod boiling the steaming Thames River also similarly occurs in Chapter Twelve of The War of the Worlds. Nemo makes a comment about this and reference to events of Chapter Twelve.
- Hyde's comment about scraping children off his boots is a reference to the events in Chapter 1 of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which Hyde "trampled calmly" over a child. This scene can be seen on the cover to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #2.
- Nemo's comment about the Martian invasion is may to be Alan Moore's way of reminding the readers that Nemo is, after all, a fanatic, a dedicated enemy of the English, and so would see the death of hundreds of English as only fitting, given what they did to his country.
- Visible of the Southbank background of Blackfriars Bridge is a building marked "I.P. Seeds." This is roughly where IPC Magazine's offices in Kings Reach Tower stands today. Kevin O'Neill had previously worked at the building in the 1970s from the offices of 2000 AD.
- "The Olde Stumpe," "Miss Mopp," and "Bell End" are references to It's That Man Again (aka I.T.M.A) is a weekly radio comedy on the BBC which first aired in 1939 and aired through 1949.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series
- Images from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 2 4
Recommended Reading
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 1)