Sylvain Cordurié

A follow-up to Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of London.

The year is 1876 and a brilliant young virtuoso violinist is kidnapped. He is not the first one to get taken without a demand of ransom. Several people in England's intellectual and scientific society's have disappeared. But this young man is a friend of Sherlock Holmes and Holmes will not stop at anything to find what had happened to him and the rest of the people that has been taken.

I read Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon, another follow-up to Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of London a little while ago and found that one quite good. I love the mix of paranormal and historical mystery. And, I love a graphic novel with really good artwork. Luckily this one just as the Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon have both a good story and the artwork is marvelous.

This volume lacked the paranormal angle that I so loved with Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon. Sure the explanation to what happened to the missing men, why just they were taken was interesting. And, despite the lack of paranormality was the story good. One can see how this story came to form the Sherlock Holmes that we met years later.

This volume also introduced Sherlock to Moriarty. I was a bit confused about that at first as they knew each other in Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon. But, after some research did I discover that this story takes place seventeen years before Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon. One thing that is interesting is that it is explained in this story how Moriarty came to met his servant that is in Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon.

I'm always interested to read a good Sherlock Holmes story, regardless if it is a graphic novel or a book and I find this series by Sylvain Cordurié is really good. The art is superb and the stories so far feel very interesting and original. I have yet to read Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of London, but I hope to do so one day.



I want to thank the publisher that provided me through Edelweiss with a free copy for an honest review.… (mer)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle meets H. P. Lovecraft! Yeah, that line taken from the blurb quite summarize this graphic novel pretty good. Sherlock Holmes is on an Arctic expedition after everything that happened in the last volume with the vampire Selymes (A volume that I sadly haven't read). But something is calling him back to London, can it be that an old foe is back...from the dead? And what has the Necronomicon to do with it?



I do have a deep love for everything paranormal, and reading a Sherlock Holmes story with paranormal aspects like the Necronomicon was marvelous. And the art is superb. Just look at the details of London. This is the kind of art I want to enjoy when I read anything that has to do with the Victorian era. Although I had one problem...



I took my forever to get used to how Sherlock Holmes was drawn. I mean he is drawn just fine, that is just not how I picture him....



I just think that I'm a bit influenced by the original drawings of Sherlock Holmes. But after a while I started to warm up to his looks. I mean, he is a fictional character, everyone picture him differently. I sure as hell picture him more like Jeremy Brett than Benedict Cumberbatch. But that doesn't mean that the Cumberbatch series isn't any good (Love that series)...



So, I liked this volume. The story was good, not fantastical good, but I enjoyed reading it. I do admit that the art pushed up the rating to 4 stars. I mean the story was good, but I wasn't totally engrossed with it. But I liked that Dr. Watson wasn't in it. He sometimes has a tendency to ruin the enjoyment for me, depending on how stupid the author makes him...or the scriptwriter. I think the best part of the book was towards the end when everything started to come together and Sherlock Holmes had to do anything to stop his enemy from winning. And look at that art...beautiful!



I do felt that reading it on my Ipad took way some of the enjoyment because it shrunk everything so everything was a bit small, especially the text. But that is a minor problem.

Thanks to Dark Horse Books and Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (mer)