Amazon Desrciption
“Sherlock Holmes’ most famous adventure, in a striking graphic novel format.
Hunting hat, smoking pipe, coat collar turned up— that’s how we know Sherlock Holmes, the most famous detective of all time. He usually investigates from London’s Baker Street. But Holmes’ most spectacular case leads him in a fast-paced chase from the metropolis of London across the continent to the Swiss Alps. At the roaring Reichenbach Falls there is a showdown between Holmes and his archenemy Professor Moriarty. Who will triumph in this battle between good and evil?
Black and white line drawings on scratchboard are Hannes Binder’s trademark. The Zurich illustrator has created dramatic images of the Swiss landscape for this epic story, the pull of which is hard to resist. An exciting graphic novel for beginners and seasoned Holmes fans alike.”
Our Thoughts:
Writer
The story of The Final Problem contains one of the most notorious endings. The story itself seems to be a bit of what an average Holmes story would be, but it is well known that Doyle was very tired of writing the beloved detective, so we will forgive him of this centuries-old debacle and grudge. The original story was published in 1893; it might be time to let it go. That being said, the book we are reviewing now is an excellent rendition of this infamous story. The story itself is a bit shortened, as you often find with reprints of older stories, and the artwork accompanying it is lovely. The art style is very fitting for the overall feel of the story.
My only complaint is that this publishing of the story is being labeled as a “graphic novel,” whereas it genuinely feels more like an “illustrated edition.” We do not have panels with speech bubbles; we have lovely drawings describing one or two sentences in the story on that page. Overall this book is very well done, but if you are a graphic novel reader, do not come into this expecting a graphic novel. Come in expecting a beautifully illustrated edition of this story that was so emotion-provoking that Queen Victoria called Sir Conan Doyle “a cad.”
Content:
There really is not anything objectionable. There are some intense situations, but overall the language is clean, and the storyline is relatively bloodless, outside of the obvious ending that, while we will not spoil for you, is a bit emotional for those who are attached to Holmes as a character.
Final Rating:
Our rating here at Geek Devotions is 4 out of 5 Glix.