Comic books do not have a great reputation for managing stories based on literary characters.Too often the stories are cut down or dumbed down with the idea of appealing to a wide audience.
Far better is the tact of writing an intelligent story and trusting the reader to sort it out.
Thankfully, that's the method used by Leah Moore and John Reppion, the authors of this mini-series based on literature's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes.
In this issue, Holmes is finally brought to trial on the charge of murder, having been caught red-handed in a locked room with the murder weapon in his hand.
We arrive at this issue with lots of questions and loose plot points, hoping that all will be resolved.
The art for the series has been outstanding. Aaron Campbell captures the era well, and manages the difficult task of rending the cast clearly, so we can tell the players apart. I look forward to seeing more work from Campbell.
If you're a Holmes fan, this series fits in well with the Great Detective's existing adventures, while taking a different approach to the story. A collected version will be available soon, and is well worth tracking down.
It's intelligent, clever and well done. And thus, refreshing.
Grade: A-
2 comments:
I really wanted to like this a lot, and though I agree with you on the art, I have to say I never really engaged with this series. I'm not sure if it's the script that bugs me or the overall story, or both. I probably should reread it now I have all the issues. It was just so so for me.
Pete, I do think the story suffers a bit for being broken up into five monthly chapters - no doubt it'll read better in a collection. This story worked for me - not a typical Holmes story, but it "felt" like a Holmes story, if that makes sense.
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