Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon

Disappointing. The story is neither "true" to Holmes nor Lovecraft and both lacks the atmosphere and logic of both. It's well illustrated but weakly plotted. Still I seem to be in the minority over this, judging from the other reviews. There artist is clearly highly talented but I found the story unconvincing and rather long-winded. Surely, if you are going to refer to Conan Doyle's creation, or Howard Phillips mythology, as a central element in a plot there needs to be a greater respect for their work and more of an attempt to truly integrate their ideas and imaginative breadth into your story. I'm afraid I found both decidedly lacking in this the case of this graphic book - although I did read through to the very end.

It's an absolutely riveting story, although I was a bit uncomfortable with the otherworldly side of things, so I ordered the vampire prequel to see how it played out. I loved the perfection of the drawing: one can never fault the French on the quality of inking or colouring their comics! And I found the storyline easy to follow, unlike a recent BBC Sherlock Special. It has a hint of Bond in it, in that the "medium" who helps Sherlock ward off the final attack falls prey to catatonia and is, like many female Bond sidekicks, offered up to the altar of saving the protagonist. Otherwise, it's a story of epic proportions, well worth reading, letting its ideas mature and the re-reading it!

You know, Sherlock Holmes must be one of the most widely used and abused fictional characters in the public domain. (There's even a new book out that's based on the premise that Mrs. Hudson was the real brains behind Holmes and Watson.) So, a mashup of Holmes and the Necronomicon just struck me as possibly a bridge too far. Well, guess what? I'm an idiot. This book was a clever and entertaining variation on the Holmes canon.This is Holmes' second involvement with the supernatural, following on after "Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of London". Again, Sherlock is in hiding and, again, the story is told in the first person by Holmes, (supposedly writing a missive to Watson). It's mostly an actioner without much in the way of mystery solving or deducing, and to that extent it does stray from the usual Holmes tale. (In fact, there are a lot of pretty convenient unHolmesian hunches and implausible leaps in understanding that often save the day.) On the other hand we do get a decent, if superficial, sense of being in Holmes' head, and that is probably the book's greatest appeal.That said, I don't know if I would have cared that much for this effort had it been just a prose novel. This is one of those cases in which the graphic aspect is a major positive feature of the experience. The illustrator has drawn an interesting Holmes - older, a bit thicker around the middle, and rather severe. All of the characters are very expressive and drawn to faithfully project actual emotions. This is not a "cartoonish" effort. That effect is enhanced by some very detailed and immersive large panels setting out and back-dropping many of the action sequences. It's not arty or photorealistic, but the drawing, while mutely colored, is expansive, detailed and rich.As to the Lovecraft angle, well, there is a lot of mishegoss involving a copy of the "Necronomicon", but that serves mostly just as a magical thingy and there's never any connection made to the Cthulhu mythos or other aspects of the Lovecraft canon. I'm open to such references, but if you're a Lovecraft fan looking for a real mashup, this will disappoint. There are lots of oblique references to deeper conspiracies, other magicks, and all sorts of supernatural shenanigans to come in later volumes, but none of the hints seemed that tempting. (Although deadpan semi-sorceress Queen Victoria is sort of a hoot.)The real appeal, to me, was that this was just an accomplished and entertaining take on Holmes dealing with the supernatural, and his thoughtful, restrained and rigorous approach to things that really go bump in the night was, for want of a better word, fun.Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

This takes place after "Vampires of London", referencing it but is not really necessary to have read that first. Holmes talks more openly about his acceptance of the paranormal throughout this comic and while I didn't buy into it in "Vampires", I was more comfortable with this new Holmes by now. This is a fun story and a mix between Indiana Jones and a Buffy plot-line than anything to be found in a real Sherlock story. Set just after the Reichenbach Falls episode, this is Holmes vs Moriarty vs the paranormal world with Queen Victoria working mysteriously behind the scenes. Outrageous camp in a "Hammer Films" horror way with great French comic book art. Fun as long as you like don't mind some cheese with your Holmes.

Good story and well drawn