There’s an old adage in the Ghostbusters/ Real Ghostbusters fandom that dictates that when writing fanfiction, you can crossover GB/RGB with any fandom. I’m beginning to thing this adage may apply to Sherlock Holmes as well.
There are so many pastiches and variations surrounding Sherlock Holmes. He’s met Dracula, Jack the Ripper, Scooby Doo, The Real Ghostbusters (it all ties in!). He’s been in space, on a ship in the distant future, in the 22nd Century. He’s been immortal, old and in search of immortality.
This month we’re reviewing two different Sherlock Holmes stories in comic form.
The first review is an old title by a famous author. A Study in Emerald, written by Neil Gaiman, art and adapted by Rafael Scavone merges the world of HP Lovecraft’s Elder Gods Cthulhu mythos and Victorian Sherlock Holmes mythos. Told in the style of “A Study in Scarlett”, we are introduced to the injured Army captain back from the Afghan War and searches out a roommate. The difference is the Army captain, tortured as a prisoner of War, is the only one to escape the otherworldly creature that rises from the depths and kills everyone else. His injury is from the creature touching him.
He finds residence at 221B Baker Street with a curious fellow who helps Scotland Yard and the Crown capture criminals and terrorists bent on destroying the Crown.
Yet all is not what it seems in this story. Queen Victoria is one of the Old Ones, who beat the human in battle seven hundred years ago. Her son was murdered, and she tasks our heroes to find his assassins.
And so the story turns on and it isn’t until the end where the mystery is solved. Not only who the assassins were but the rug pull, the identities of the two men at Baker Street, the identities of the assassins and what it means to be either a terrorist or a freedom fighter.
Even though it was published in 2018, I don’t want to give the ending away because it is one of those, when you realize, you’ll freak moments.
I’m a huge fan of Neal Gaiman and this just fed into my need of him writing Sherlock Holmes. I had read his short story, “The Case of Death and Honey” so when I discovered he’d written another Holmes, story, I bought it. It hits both the Cthulhu fans, and the Sherlock Holmes fans. The artwork is spectacular. Scavone brings in the feel of Victorian London in an alternate universe. One where Old Gods reign and humans are worth only what they can be used for.
That’s it for this week friends, enjoy the warm weather and remember, relax in a comfortable spot with your favorite book.
Mouse's Reading Nook 