From Wikipedia: Psychogeography is an exploration of urban environments that emphasizes playfulness and 'drifting'. Neither Moore and Campbell put any stock in the theory and even lampoon it in their addendum comic “ Dance of the Gull Chasers ,” which examines all of the proposed Ripper identity theories and the continuing cultural obsession with the murders a century onward. Most Ripper scholars dismiss the theory as Gull was 72 and had recently suffered a stroke at the time of the murders. this theory of the Ripper ’s identity was first proposed in journalist Stephen Knight ’s 1976 book, Jack The Ripper: The Final Solution. In From Hell: Master Edition, they can now shine a little brighter against the darkness. What often goes overlooked in Moore’s work are tiny slivers of humanity bravely shining despite them. Whether it’s Watchmen, or V for Vendetta or From Hell, it’s easy to define Alan Moore’s work purely on the darkest tropes compromised antiheroes, the ultra-violence, gratuitous sex, the oppressive politics, his obsession with the occult, and crushing forces of power and order. This to me is perhaps the ultimate justification for coloring up the original graphic novel.

The colors also seem to symbolize their friendship and their struggle to get by amid the daily challenges and cruelty dealt out to them and of course the horror that stalks them which we in the 21st century tragically know they won’t. It’s also harder to gloss over the Ripper’s victims namely Mary Kelly and their outfits conveying bright pretty yet faded colors and the slight rose tint of their bodies which is also their trade and often means of survival (though at times, their skin appears faded and drained when worn down by the hardness of their lives. The big question is this: does the Master Edition improve on Moore and Campbell’s original work? For me, the answer is a resounding yes. However, 30 years later, Campbell finally accepted the challenge and chose to do all his coloring digitally with all of its palates and options previously unimaginable. The black and white was so intrinsic to the book that Campbell refused initial offers to color it, believing it impossible due to the difficulty of putting color inks on top of originally black and white artwork. Printing anything in color was difficult, laborious and expensive, especially in cash-strapped 1980s Britain. Despite how it might seem, the decision to tell this story in black and white was purely one of economics.

Readers would’ve undoubtedly noticed the series was presented in rough black and white, from lightly sketched pieces almost resembling illustrated magazines of the Victorian era, to oppressive all-consuming nightfall or shadows whose presence in the book is rivaled by one element blood - which glistens like midnight.

From hell graphic novel