Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes by Cyril Lieron & Benoit Dahan
Blurb:
An award-winning graphic novel featuring world’s greatest detective: Sherlock Holmes!
The discovery of a mysterious powder on some clothing and a very special show ticket leads Sherlock Holmes to believe a patient isn’t the only victim of a grand conspiracy. Indeed, it seems the strange disappearance of Londoners can be explained by the performances of a Chinese magician. When other tickets are found, the detective’s suspicions are confirmed…
Features stunning artwork that gives a unique look into the inner workings of the great detective’s mind!
Review:
A brand new original mystery featuring the greatest fictional detective of all time, you say? And that too as a graphic novel, no less!? COUNT ME IN! This was my honest reaction upon seeing this pop up in my recommendations. And as a HUGE fan of the one and only super sleuth (and of his partner in crime!), I just simply had to hit that request button. I would sincerely like to thank the authors, the publishers, Titan Books, and Edelweiss Plus for sending a digital copy my way. You guys rock! This review has been in the works for quite a while now, and I’m really glad that it’s finally seeing the light of the day, hehe.
Features stunning artwork that gives a unique look into the inner workings of the great detective’s mind! See into Sherlock’s mind like never before as Cyril Lieron depicts an intricate visual representation of his mind palace!
How can anyone NOT be insanely intrigued!? I was immediately SOLD!
What’s it about?
Our beloved duo of Holmes and Watson are back (did they ever leave tho!?), and this time around, it’s for The Case of the Scandalous Ticket…
November, 1890. Welcome to the Victorian era (one of my fav. settings ever!)
A very special ticket to a mysterious show. The traces of an even mysterious powder. A charming Chinese magician.
As always, Watson, you see but you don’t observe…
Are these in any way linked to the sudden and strange disappearances across London? What could possibly be the motive behind said happenings, and is it a part of some grand, evil conspiracy?
As the number of reported victims begin to rise alarmingly, Holmes and Watson must race against time to stop whatever it is that’s about to unfold before time runs out…
The game is AFOOT!
The good:
First off, hats off to everyone who was involved with this AMAZING graphic novel. Honestly, the unique and detailed artwork present is stunning in every sense of the word!
The coloring was superb, and the illustrations were a bit atypical yet crazy good in their own way. LOVED everything about them.
Holmes’s way of thinking has been so meticulously presented that I was blown away by it all! There’s a “thread” for all the clues, which in themselves are underlined and separately highlighted/illustrated. Then there’s a map in the background with the locations visited, tracing our duo’s path. And of course, not to forget the “attic” aka the brain!
The story was very good overall (I do have a bit of criticism for it; mentioned below). Quite a bit of historical stuff is present throughout as well, including the antagonist’s past/back story, and the motive behind their actions.
The characters were very well depicted. Not to mention the lovely way Victorian London was portrayed too!
The “not so” good:
Now, for the criticism aforementioned, the motivations/ending wrt the antagonist felt a little “unsatisfactory” to me personally. Mind you, everything apart from that was top notch. And that’s my only real gripe about it.
Secondly, but for which you simply can’t blame anyone, would be the fact that certain things/pages throughout the graphic novel were meant, or rather designed to be fully enjoyed, when read in a physical form. For instance – fold this page; look at this page through light; curl the edge of the page, and do stuff with the pages in general, etc. which isn’t quite possible in digital editions. Having said that, this in no way hindered the reading experience, which was wonderful in itself. So not a big deal at all, however, thought of pointing it out (which is your queue to go buy the physical copy ASAP!).
Other info.
It’s set right after the case of the red-headed league!
A Study in Scarlet reference is present.
Other supporting cast (and equally beloved by all) such as Inspector Lestrade, Mrs. Hudson, and that of Mycroft are also present!
It’s an award-winning, and Eisner nominated original graphic novel. [The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books.]
A visually stunning treat, every thought and clue that flows through Sherlock’s mind is thoroughly explored, displayed in the art for readers to latch onto, and intricately illustrated, uniquely portraying the inner workings of his mind as he strives to solve: The Case of the Scandalous Ticket! Put on your deerstalker and pull out your magnifying glass, there’s a mystery to be solved!
And when it’s sold like that, it’s hardly any surprise, is it now?
Final thoughts:
Truly a stunning piece of work by all means. Every aspect of it, be it the unique and immaculate artwork, the story, the characters; everything was just so well done. The depiction of Victorian London was so very on point, and all of it combined to make what is an amazing, original graphic novel that brought our beloved duo and their brand new adventure to life extremely well in every possible way. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you don’t miss out on this whatsoever (go buy a physical copy, rather, which would be even better!), and I’m really hoping and looking forward to many such future adventures featuring the one and the only, THE GOAT, that is Sherlock Holmes!
