Well this is going to be the easiest review I’ve ever done. Have you watched the BBC’s Sherlock adaptation? Of course you have. It’s one of the best things to hit TV in decades and it’s two stars are now some of the hottest actors in Hollywood. If you haven’t seen it… then I feel sorry for you. This is a manga adaptation of the first episode of Sherlock aka “A Study in Pink.” It was originally published in Japan by Kadokawa. The manga is based on of Steven Moffat’s script and adapted by Jay. (the period is part of the name) and I’m assuming they also did the art since no one else is listed.
I find it ridiculous that you would pick this up not knowing about the show so I’ll keep my synopsis for the issue short. Sherlock and Watson meet for the first time and there’s a serial killer making people kill themselves.
The writing is great because it’s based 100% off the script. There is some manga pacing done for the first issue to entice you to come back for more and that’s really the one and only difference from watching the show. That’s how faithful the adaptation is.
Really the only reason to read this aside from a quick refresher of the episode, is the artwork. Because really who isn’t curious about a manga adaptation of Sherlock? Well, people who don’t watch Sherlock, but they’re fucking mole people or old losers so who cares about them.
Is this necessary? Absolutely not. There is no reason to have a manga version of the TV show when you have the TV show doing the exact same thing. If this was an unaired script or something like the Marvel adaptations where it’s placed in Japan and it’s a new continuity, then it would be amazing. It’s good and I’ll score it appropriately. The bottom line is that it doesn’t need to exist, but I’m certainly glad it does because it’s one of those things that we only get in comics and I appreciate that.
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