A Study in Emerald

“The Neil Gaiman Library” at Dark Horse gets another inspired addition with this adaptation of a story that blends the mythos of Sherlock Holmes and Cthulhu.  We begin with London’s greatest criminal investigator and his war veteran roommate finding themselves challenged with solving the murder of a Bohemian Prince. What did this prince do to warrant such a fate?  Well, the royalty in this world have a great deal more limbs, tentacles, and teeth compared to your average human, while their blood is a vibrant shade of emerald. While these Great Old Ones have brought peace and prosperity to the world as we know it, some view their leadership of humans as a yoke that must be thrown off.  Now it’s up to the detective and his friend to find out whodunit before the killer can strike again.

This comes to us from Rafael Albuquerque who provides the art and co-writes with his writing partner, Rafael Scavone.  The only other thing I’ve read from them was that generic Batman vs. the Russian Mob story from the last volume of “All-Star Batman,” but this is much better than that.  Even if much of the story’s attention to detail can be attributed to Gaiman’s original work, it reads smoothly with the sense that Albuquerque and Scavone knew what to keep in and leave out in adapting it.  There’s also just enough worldbuilding to make the idea of an Earth ruled by the Great Old Ones to work and a wonderfully unexpected finale that plays on our expectations regarding the detective and his partner.  Some might view that finale as somewhat anticlimactic, or just plain confusing if you’re unfamiliar with Holmes’ mythos, but it worked for me.

Albuquerque’s art is also impressively moody.  His London is a fittingly dark and creepy place, with memorable characters who reflect encountering their unearthly leaders in distinctive ways.  Even if this is a slim volume, it’s a dense read that’s well worth its cover price. It does leave me wanting more of this interesting world that Gaiman has mixed together and Albuquerque and Scavone have brought to life on the page.  Yet it looks like I’ll just have to content myself with checking out whatever their next project together is after this.