While I was waiting on line to meet Kevin O'Neil at Jim Hanley's Universel, I skimmed through the first chapter of
The Black Dossier. One of the things I was struck by was Wilhelmina Murray's characterization in that segment.
In the first LOEG series, Mina sought to be independent, but ended up finding herself in situations where she had to be rescued by her male teammates. One particular instance was in chapter six. Cornered on an airship by Professor Moriarty, an unsettled Mina attempts to reason with him as one intellectual to another. Moriarty's response is to contemptuously sneer to his underlings "Throw this smelly little lesbian over the side." It falls to Allan Quartermain to distract Moriarty and his men, at which point Mina is finally able to sabotage the airship.
In contrast, in the opening segment of The Black Dossier, a macho, swaggering British secret agent named "Jimmy" (obviously an ultra-obnoxious extrapolation of James Bond) attempts to sexually assault Mina. At which point she proceeds to give him a serious @$$-kicking.
I was struck by how much more assertive Mina was here, as opposed to the first LOEG, which is why I asked O'Neill to sketch her. I even pointed this out to O'Neill, and he agreed that she had definitely developed as the various series had progressed.
In any case, long story short, here is Mina in her 1950s incarnation, holding in her possession the Black Dossier, the manuscript detailing the hidden history of the League.
