Comic review: Sherlock Holmes Vs. Harry Houdini #2: Breaking from the tried and tested formula

Writers: Anthony Del Col & Conor McCreery
Artist: Carlos Furuzono
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: 12th November 2014


***Warning!! Plot spoiler in review***

The majority of this book is taken up with action/buddy movie panels of Houdini and Holmes trying to outdo each other, only to fall into inevitable mutual respect. You know how that routine works right? We’ve seen it so, so many times before. It’s not original, it’s a formula, but it’s okay, it’s kind of fun.

The rest of the book is a murder mystery tale with a final reveal that probably gives away a bit too much of the plot, leaving you with the unsatisfying feeling that you have already solved the mystery before the great detective.

Mystery/detective books aren’t supposed to work like that. You are supposed to hook the reader by dragging out the reveal until the end of the book. That's how it works, that's how it always works.

But not here.

The very obvious enjoyment to be had in reading what can loosely be described as the ‘murder mystery’ genre is to try to guess who did it, with the writer dropping clues throughout, but with these clues only making sense come the final reveal.

That’s exactly what happens in every single Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and that's what makes them so much fun to read. Holmes is the great detective, so naturally it is (usually) him who delivers the final denouement at the conclusion to the mystery narrative, but can you uncover the mystery before he reveals it? That's the hook that keeps you reading, that keeps you on the look-out for the clue that will unlock the puzzle, and that's why it is so enjoyable.

Why writers Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery are breaking from this formula so early on in the story (it’s only issue #2) is the biggest mystery of the book so far.

Hopefully there’s something else going on in this story, because if this is just a plot about a wronged rival trying to cause Houdini some irreparable career problems then, well, that isn’t exactly a lot of fun, is it? Plus we know Houdini’s real-life story already, and his career went pretty well throughout his entire life.

What we are left with is a buddy movie, in comic book form. That’s okay, but I need something a bit more than that in my comic books.  I’ll give this book one more issue, see if it offers anything else, but if it doesn't then I’ll have to give it up. The art is only average, and although I like the alternative covers that isn’t enough reason for me to hang on until the end of the story. I ain’t rich you know, and I have a growing chocolate and fragrance addiction that needs feeding. Keep the reveal to the end. Giving it to us already in issue #2 is a very strange thing to do, hopefully it makes sense in issue #3, but at the moment I don't understand that decision at all.

Rating: 5/10