Holmes in Harlem

Watson and Holmes #1

I finally started watching the BBC’s recent “Sherlock” series a while back — and I highly recommend it to everyone, like right now, go watch it — and it’s helped get me more interested in alternative Sherlock Holmes stories. Which brings us to this little work of glory, which sets Sherlock and Watson in modern-day Harlem. Jon Watson is a medical intern — not actually a doctor, though everyone assumes he is — in Convent Emergency Center in Harlem, while Sherlock Holmes is a dreadlocked, fedora-wearing private eye on the trail of a missing woman. Watson gets involved in the case when a witness is admitted to the emergency center after a severe beating. Can the duo track the clues through a maze of underground dance clubs, drug kingpins, mercenaries, and cell phones to find the truth?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Karl Bollers and Rick Leonardi do a great job with this one, with a great story, strong characterization, sweet art, and one of the best known fictional detectives transplanted into a setting I don’t think he’s ever been in before. I also love the hints at the other elements of the Holmes mythology — Mrs. Hudson runs Hudson’s Vintage Books and Vinyl downstairs from Holmes’ apartment, and the Baker Street Irregulars even make an appearance. If you’re a fan of Holmes, go pick this one up.

Wonder Woman #22

Wonder Woman, Zola, Zeke, and Hera have been transported to New Genesis — and they’ve been there three days while Diana recovered from her injuries in the fight with the First Born. Orion surprises them all by being much more submissive to Highfather than they expected. As the New Gods prepare to return Wonder Woman and crew to Earth, Highfather orders Zeke held on New Genesis, but Orion manages to return him to Earth. Once there, they find London besieged by the First Born, with Lennox apparently dead. Is there hope for anyone in this hopeless battle?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nicely done story — but I especially love Cliff Chiang’s vision of the Fourth World and New Genesis — clean, futuristic, architecturally and scientifically vast, but still distinctly Kirbyesque.