“The Hoaxers from Beyond History”
Supreme 42 (September 1997)
Writer: Alan Moore
Art: Joe Bennett and Rick Veitch
Review: Emsley "Ultra Fan" Wyatt and "Sarcasm Kid"
The League of Infinity was a group that appeared in
Supreme. Before getting to them,
however, we need to take a look at the greater universe that spawned them. Supreme existed as a comic for a while,
basically as one of many Superman knock-offs out there in comic-land. But then, with issue 41, Alan Moore took
over. He took that knock-off status and
embraced it, ramping it up to eleven.
Supreme acquired a Supreme dog, Radar; a female counterpart, Suprema; and
a raft of deja vu inducing supporting characters. Moore walked, no make that
gleefully danced, on the line between tribute and satire, between parody and
plagiarism, between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his
knowle......whoops, wrong intro. Retcons
were acknowledged, even by characters themselves, as “reality revisions.” Many
comic tropes were stood on their heads, turned inside out, and put through a
meat grinder. One interesting technique
was that many tales were told with “framing stories,” done with modern-style
comic art but in the flashbacks the art would revert to classic silver-age
style, often with internal covers referencing past issues that were never
published.
The League of Infinity, in
case you were wondering when I'd get around to them, played prominent roles in
at least five stories, and did cameos in a few more. They were introduced in Supreme # 42. Note the styling: at once reminiscent of the classic
DC Annuals but with a hint of Adventure #300.
