Comic Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Vanishing Man (Dynamite)

From Dynamite, the Sherlock Holmes trade, The Vanishing Man, collects the issues of this miniseries.

It’s written by Leah Moore and John Reppion, with art by Julius Ohta, and colours by Ellie Wright.

This one, taking place in olde England (not in 2019, for example) has the look and feel down pat. It’s in the details, the carriages, the street scenes, in the obvious period touches. But it’s also in the small stuff. The pharmacy, the police station, the wardrobes, and rooms. And it’s in the dialogue; this book feels as real as if you are watching a movie about the times. It’s not carelessly tossed off ‘fake English’, with all the ‘pip pip’ and ‘cheerio’ sort of rot; it’s more like you are there. But you are spared the genuine article, the unfathomable slang and obscure words that would hurl you cursing toward Google every five minutes. So, ‘bravo’, well done on that account, mate!

The story is as thick as thieves. One mystery, (where did Mr. Michael Williams disappear to?) makes way to more mysteries: where is the delivery, boy? What’s up with the curse of the Egyptian sarcophagus? And so on. There are a lot of balls being juggled here. And sometimes it’s more confusing to us, not helping. Who is that guy, and is he chasing a good guy or a bad guy?

The art is well executed. The figures are well proportioned, the expressions clearly understandable. We know what each panel is intended to illustrate. The colouring is a bit subdued, frankly. Lots of washed out greys and browns, pale blues. Not much intensity. I like the ‘flatness’ of the colour, that is, I don’t think we need to see every face overrendered with highlight, shadow and reflected light all over it. But a bit more colour would be alright, especially when the scenes occur outdoors in the daylight.

The ebb and flow of the drama is good. The characters are well motivated and feel genuine. If you like period ‘whodunnits’, you’ll enjoy this Sherlock Holmes trade.

Dynamite, Sherlock Holmes, The Vanishing Man, $17.99 for 108 pages, not rated, so perhaps Teen