By Cat Wyatt
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Vanishing Man is a new story from the minds of Leah Moore and John Reppion; their goal is to fill in the gaps and tell us the tales that Sherlock Holmes has always been referencing and alluding to; the adventures that happened before and in between the classic tales we all know and love.
In case it wasn’t horribly obvious, the Vanishing Man is not a tale written by Arthur Conan Doyle, but rather by fans of his work. They’re taking the characters and world he has developed and hope to continue the legacy he left behind. As such I’m sure his fans will be divided into three parts; the ones that will greedily read/watch anything that involves Sherlock Holmes; the ones that will see this as not canon and a horrible offense; and those that are somewhere in between. All three opinions are totally fine in my book, and obviously, I encourage you to read or not read this series at your discretion. I fall somewhere in between, with my curiosity getting the better of me in this case.
This issue starts off right in the thick of things. We see a man (whom we later learn is Michael Williams) taking an early day from work, something that is implied to not be normal for him. With little time wasted he’s set upon by two men on the street, and a chase begins.
The scene cuts to Sherlock Holmes. In typical fashion, since he’s not working on a case, he’s to be found lounging in his rooms, seeking relief from his chronic boredom. This isn’t a new portrayal of him, which is a good thing in my mind.
What was really striking about this scene (in my opinion) was the fact that we see Sherlock handing over a large sum of money (for the time) to a child to run off and collect his…medications. I think we all know what the child is actually picking up. You’re also likely aware of the danger a kid like that would be in; if people on the streets were aware of how much money he was carrying on him.
The scolding Sherlock gets from Watson is absolutely justified, but it also isn’t going to stop Sherlock anytime soon. While they’re bantering back and forth, the plot we’ve been introduced to is finally brought to Sherlock’s door, in the form of a woman named Mrs. Williams (the wife, of course). Her husband has been missing for two nights, and she’s quite worried about him. She’s done everything she can, but she desperately needs help. His work even went so far as to put a couple of ads in the newspaper, trying to help find him (something that Sherlock found to be quite suspicious…naturally).
Like many cases that Sherlock chooses to take on, this one looks no different from so many others. Yet clearly he seems something different, something that makes it different from the rest. Perhaps it’s because he can’t see the conclusion with a simple glance. Perhaps he likes the way the puzzle is forming in his mind. Regardless, it’s clear that he’s going to take the case.
Quite a bit happens after this, Sherlock and Watson begin their investigation, one of our favorite Sherlock antagonists is introduced, and we see some of the consequences of Sherlock’s actions already occurring.
Considering how short of a time they have to establish the feel of the word, characters, and the plot, they’ve done a surprisingly good job here. The world feels like the way it should, and the choice to introduce the plot before showing us Sherlock was an interesting choice, but I actually really like it.
As for Sherlock himself…at first I didn’t like the way they designed his character (looks wise), but the more I looked at it the more I realized I was expecting him to look more like the latest movie and TV show adaptations. Once I threw that assumption out of my head, I was actually pretty content with the choices made. I love that they chose to start right off with his addictions, and the consequences of his frequently reckless behavior (like sending a child off with a ton of money to pick up and deliver his ‘medications;’ thus putting them at significant risk).
Score: 4/5
Sherlock Holmes – The Vanishing Man #1
Dynamite Entertainment