Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil #1
Script: Jeff Lemire
Art, Colors, Lettering: David Rubin
Flats: Kike J. Diaz
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil had a lot to work against. First, we know villain books traditionally don’t sell as well as superhero books. That’s obvious by the fact that we have literally hundreds of superhero titles to choose from and only the rare occurrence of a villain book. Also, from the title, we know that they are mashing up two classic characters which has the risk of turning out to be super cheesy. But, despite all this, Lemire and Rubin managed to give us an incredible book.
Odd thing right off the bat: we aren’t following Sherlock Frankenstein. We are following Lucy Weber, the daughter of Black Hammer, a superhero who has been missing for a decade. In flashbacks, we see Black Hammer and his compatriots, and I have to say, why are the made-up/background superheroes in titles like this always so much better than the main stream ones? Any one of them would make an awesome title.
Anyway, Lucy is searching for her father, and the best place to look is with his arch-nemesis, who is also missing, Sherlock Frankenstein. Her search takes her to the last know residence of Sherlock, the Spiral Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Sherlock, who is presented as an almost mythical creature who’s been alive for hundreds of years, busted out of the place decades earlier.
The asylum is run by retired superheroes (is this going to be important in later issues? Probably.) who guard the worst of the worst villains. Speaking to them could hold the clues to the location of Sherlock Frankenstein and Lucy’s father. (It’s a Sherlock Holmes type mystery, get it!?) Also, Sherlock Frankenstein is Frankenstein in the tradition of Dr. Frankenstein and not Frankenstein’s monster. You’ll get it when you read it.
I loved the artwork. The textures of the colors were amazing, and the characters and scenes really looked hand drawn. Sometimes comic art can lean to the extreme of being so perfectly drawn that it looks mechanical and loses some of the charm. That doesn’t happen here. I would only have one criticism, and this might just be me being dumb, but a couple of times I read the speech bubbles out of order because it wasn’t clear to me which one was the first one. Again, that could be just me.
This was a great introduction to an exciting series with a lot of potential. Can’t wait to see where it goes.
Art, Colors, Lettering: David Rubin
Flats: Kike J. Diaz
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil had a lot to work against. First, we know villain books traditionally don’t sell as well as superhero books. That’s obvious by the fact that we have literally hundreds of superhero titles to choose from and only the rare occurrence of a villain book. Also, from the title, we know that they are mashing up two classic characters which has the risk of turning out to be super cheesy. But, despite all this, Lemire and Rubin managed to give us an incredible book.
Odd thing right off the bat: we aren’t following Sherlock Frankenstein. We are following Lucy Weber, the daughter of Black Hammer, a superhero who has been missing for a decade. In flashbacks, we see Black Hammer and his compatriots, and I have to say, why are the made-up/background superheroes in titles like this always so much better than the main stream ones? Any one of them would make an awesome title.
Anyway, Lucy is searching for her father, and the best place to look is with his arch-nemesis, who is also missing, Sherlock Frankenstein. Her search takes her to the last know residence of Sherlock, the Spiral Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Sherlock, who is presented as an almost mythical creature who’s been alive for hundreds of years, busted out of the place decades earlier.
The asylum is run by retired superheroes (is this going to be important in later issues? Probably.) who guard the worst of the worst villains. Speaking to them could hold the clues to the location of Sherlock Frankenstein and Lucy’s father. (It’s a Sherlock Holmes type mystery, get it!?) Also, Sherlock Frankenstein is Frankenstein in the tradition of Dr. Frankenstein and not Frankenstein’s monster. You’ll get it when you read it.
I loved the artwork. The textures of the colors were amazing, and the characters and scenes really looked hand drawn. Sometimes comic art can lean to the extreme of being so perfectly drawn that it looks mechanical and loses some of the charm. That doesn’t happen here. I would only have one criticism, and this might just be me being dumb, but a couple of times I read the speech bubbles out of order because it wasn’t clear to me which one was the first one. Again, that could be just me.
This was a great introduction to an exciting series with a lot of potential. Can’t wait to see where it goes.
A Look Inside
