Sherlock Holmes: Victorian Knights

Sherlock Holmes: Victorian Knights
Story by Ken Janssens and Art by Matthew Martin

I only picked this up because I try to be thorough in the #1’s I review here each week. This one was superfluously wordy as one might expect from a Sherlock Holmes tale. I fear Blue Water is attempting to channel the wildly popular Sherlock Holmes movie but it comes across flat. Holmes is deadpan in his explanation of a recently wrapped case as he beats the crap out of a random thug. Random thug turns out to be a master of a brothel and he implores Holmes for his help in a murder that just occurred. Intrigued by this and the “Black Spectre” the man speaks of, he agrees to take on the case much to the chagrin of the tired Watson. As I read over a panel where a character yawns, I felt the need to do so myself. This just really isn’t intriguing or fun to read. Anyway, the rest of the comic deals with Holmes unraveling a not so clever plot and his determination to save the Queen (although I couldn’t recant how he came to that conclusion).

The art is atrocious. It doesn’t add anything to the story aside from terrible looking characters and funny fingers. I honestly don’t know what else to say other than I’m really bummed about this comic as I wanted to be thrilled and intrigued by a complex story. Leave this at the store, for God’s sake.