The first six chapters of From Hell were originally published in the excellent (and eventually banned) small press horror comic anthology Taboo (issues 2-7) from 1989 until 1992, building atmospherically over those irregular yet much anticipated issues. The story was abruptly brought to a halt when Taboo was finally laid to rest with issue 9 in 1995. An attempted re-publication of From Hell was aborted a couple of years later, but in 1999 Eddie Campbell Comics managed to publish the complete story in 16 parts. I held off as I wanted the story in a single volume, and towards the end of 2000 Knockabout published this huge (300 plus pages) trade paperback. Now the story can be told in full.

We all know about Jack the Ripper don't we? Or do we? There are numerous theories (many of them conspiratorial in nature) and guesses as to the reasons for the murders and the identity of the killer or killers. These range from royalty to qualified surgeons to immigrants and even performing Indians. Channel 4 recently produced evidence that pointed towards an American conman and doctor named Tumblety.

Moore and Campbell have taken the line that the Royal Surgeon Dr William Gull murdered the four prostitutes in Whitechapel after they had sent a blackmail letter to Walter Sickert, friend of Queen Victoria's son Prince Albert. Albert had fathered an illegal child by Annie Crook. Upon discovering the pregnancy, the four decided to try and obtain money from the Royal Family to pay off their lodging and drinking debts. Victoria gave Gull permission to silence the blackmailers, and with the assistance of Netley, the Queen's coach driver, Gull set about his work, using his Masonic contacts throughout the corrupt police force to ensure its success.

Moore vividly portrays Inspector Abbeline as the hapless detective tasked with bringing the perpetrator to justice, not realising just how complicated and arcane the powers are that he is up against. Abbeline and Sickert slowly piece together the conspiracy but have no option but to remain silent, pensioned off. Recognising they are too small a part of the puzzle to solve anything. Moore creates totally believable and complex characters (a result of his exhaustive researches into the subject), enhancing them with extensive notes in the appendices which are absolutely vital and must be read simultaneously with the actual story panels themselves.

Moore's explanatory notes bring to life the London of the late 19th century, supplying the reader with fascinating anecdotes and detail about the architecture, roads and history; all implying a magical resonance and hidden symbolism in the very stones and bones of London. Campbell's truly stunning black and white line-drawn depictions of the city, it's filth and stink, its people and its secret geometry slowly erode at you – eventually you can feel the grime and smell the air, taste the despair, sweat and alcohol of the terrorised Whitechapel area.

But it's not that simple. Moore brings the story full-circle as Gull's occult/Masonic beliefs ensure the murders take on a significance that only others in similar positions of hidden power would recognise. As Gull passes from this earth, locked away in an insane asylum, he traverses time and space appearing to other infamous killers of more recent times, perhaps inspiring, whispering and influencing them in their future actions. (I bet these scenes won't be in the forthcoming film). And there's so much more: the letters from Jack himself (which ended with the phrase 'From Hell'); scapegoats murdered to ease the public furore; forbidden and complicated relationships; incredibly powerful murder scenes; insanity combined with massive intelligence and a knowledge so esoteric it becomes supernatural.

Moore and Campbell must have been there.