holmes

by Omaha Perez

collects Holmes # 1-4

the premise: Sherlock Holmes is on the trail of a missing skull, and the game's afoot once more! Only Holmes is a paranoid nutjob with a drug problem, a number of bizarre fetishes, and a wit that's not really all that quick after all.

the lowdown: This book collects the four issue series of Perez's skewering of the Holmes legend. If you're looking for something respectful of its source material, this ain't it. What you'll find in its place is a witty parody of the legend, with Holmes recast as an arrogant yet moronic prick, held together only by the not-inconsiderable services of his trusty Watson. Watson narrates the story, and we learn that the legend of Holmes as the World's Greatest Detective is entirely the invention of Watson, who spins, distorts, and outright lies about the facts plainly in front of him in order to preserve the myth.

Although the plot meanders a little in places, the narrative holds together quite well and builds toward an appropriate and satisfying ending. Along the way Holmes is thrust into a variety of embarrassing situations as he plays his game of wits with the elusive "Moriarty", a game so complex we plebians could never begin to understand it. (He said with a smirk.)

Perez bashes his own art in the afterword, apparently due to its minimalist nature. I kind of liked it, personally. I think it would suffer in color, but in B&W it makes very good use of shadow - frankly I saw a pretty heavy Mignola influence in places. Not the best ever, but better than Perez seems to think.

the verdict: I enjoyed this a lot, and would recommend it to anyone looking for something witty and wrong. It's a nice dark comedy.