Titan Comics 2020
Written by Lavie Tidhar
Illustrated by Paul McCaffrey
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Before we were even properly introduced, a ruffian assailant attempted to assassinate Adler. She disarmed him – quite easily – and revealed to me that she was being pursued by a dangerous, and determined criminal named Moriarty who wanted to get his hands on some mysterious papers from Paris that he believed she possessed... Life with my new friend promised to be rather interesting. I thought it might be just the tonic I needed. But unbeknown to me, Moriarty was not the only one seeking the papers – and our new enemy was far more ruthless than I could ever imagine. And she demanded to be obeyed...
I admit I was harsh on the first issue but I call it like I see it and it was exactly as I described it. Thankfully this issue veers away from feeling like it's a carbon copy of Sherlock. We get into their own unique adventure and this is where things begin to shine. The opening here really does a nice job in helping her see who Adler is which of course allows us to see what they've said about her public persona thus far. It is nice to see and it helps greatly in getting to understand Adler and by extension Jane.
The way this issue is being told is really rather quite well done. The story & plot development we see through the sequence of events that unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented in an easy to follow manner. I would like to see the reader being left more in the dark so to see just how much prowess Adler has but I am good with what we see. The character development is fun and it is nice to see how the characters act and react to the circumstances and situations that do arise. Oh I do like seeing Lestrade here as well though I will say the reason he is there to me feels more like a red herring. The pacing is nice and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way there are some rather intriguing moments to find within it's ebb & flow.
We do get to meet some very interesting characters here and well at least one familiar face, or rather name. Carmilla however intrigues me the most because I wasn't aware that those like her existed in this universe, though looks are oft to deceive I suppose. Now the new She in her life is someone I would like to be kept around a while as she in the process of becoming a nice adversary.
The interiors here are really well executed. I like the linework we see how the varying weights are utilised to bring out the attention to detail. When they appear to create the backgrounds is when I really appreciate them, some buttons and placements raise an eyebrow. Still I do like how we see the composition within the panels create this depth perception, scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book. I am enjoying the colour work we're seeing here as well. How the various hues and tones are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work are handled extremely well.
The story is marked improvement over last issue when it comes to originality and where the story seems to be taking us. With a few minor and major twists and some that should show at some point to create even more chaos is something I look forward to hopefully happening. While Adler is the only woman who Sherlock ever thought of as an equal and her intellect tells us this, she is also brazen, daring and full of spirits when it comes to what she likes to do. She should never come across as a female version of a man and be embraced for the unique woman that she truly is and it would seem we're entering that territory and I look forward to seeing what's in store.