Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon #2
Written by Leah Moore and John Reppion
Illustrated by Matt Triano
Colored by Brennan Wagner
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Covers by Francesco Francavilla
Dedicated to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 20, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon is a five-issue miniseries from Dynamite Entertainment that gives us a new mystery-adventure from the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusted companion Dr. Watson.

In The Liverpool Demon #1, we see the crime-solving duo far from their Baker St. London flat finishing up what looks like a really interesting case Liverpool, England. While Holmes and Watson planned to return home once the job was done, they bump into one of the doctor’s old acquaintances and his colleagues, who convince them to delay their departure until later in the day, though Holmes seems none too pleased about it. While they dine inside, a terrifying creature bounds through the city, leaping across rooftops during an electrical storm, frightening the citizens, who refer to it as “Spring-heeled Jack.”

Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon #1
Written by Leah Moore and John Reppion
Illustrated by Matt Triano
Colored by Brennan Wagner
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Covers by Francesco Francavilla
Dedicated to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 12, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Anytime there is an offer to review a story involving The Great Detective, I jump in with both feet. Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon #1 is no exception to that rule, but it is an exceptional story – one that is sure to please Sherlockians everywhere.

Reuniting the awesome team of Leah Moore and John Reppion to pen this mini-series was a stroke of brilliance, as their grasp of the Victorian age is well suited for comics. They have a way of conveying the dirtiness and griminess of the time through well-written characters and dialogue. From mannerisms to mode of speech, the reader is made to feel as if they are right there in that time and place. The story is captivating and intriguing, two things that make for a great gothic mystery.

Damsels #1
Story by Leah Moore and John Reppion
Illustrated by Aneke
Letters by Simon Bowland
Colors by Ivan Nunes
Covers by J. Scott Campbell and John Chen
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 13, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Damsels is not your grandma’s renaissance faire, unless of course she happens to have endless reserves of energy, then perhaps it is. Our popular culture seems to be tiring of the impending apocalypse or equivalent and looking to the simpler days of yore, that never was, for stories. Not to worry, zombies still have lots of brains to eat and our own modern minds can’t seem to make a fairy tale without that sense of great fear and trepidation intrinsic to the plot. Think Grimm, Once Upon a Time or in the comic world Fables or Fairest where they take cute folk tales from our youth and weird those up so adults will care about them.

I like this escapist concept and there are endless paths for a narrative to go when your main characters are not Instagraming what they had for lunch from their iPads. Damsels answers that challenge of making a new series with a popular premise stand out by bringing lots of cinematic style action and chaos into the mix. Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Snow White and Rapunzel may never be the same again.