In Review: Adler #2

Synopsis: After uniting some of the most famous heroines of the Victorian age including Jane Eyre, Miss Havisham, and Marie Curie, Irene Adler must finally come face-to-face with Sherlock Holmes’s greatest nemesis, Moriarty!

The Story

After a nice recap of the first issue, which is delivered by Jane Eyre in the style of Doctor Watson. We leap straight into the second part, which sees events unfold at a rip-roaring pace. Irene Adler is giving a performance and is being watched by none other than Moriarty. When a murder takes place during her performance Irene is shocked to learn that the assassin known as Carmilla has struck on behalf of her employer. The Queen of the Amazons Ayesha who is looking to ensconce herself as the mistress of all of London’s crime. Meanwhile in Paris Marie Curie sends Annie on a mission to London. The papers she carries are for Adler.

Artwork

The high-quality artwork from Paul McCaffrey continues to impress with some fantastic drawings of London in 1902 that look so good that you actually feel you are there. I also enjoyed the work the artist did with Adler’s showstopping performance at the theatre and the awesome visual build-up to the murder. The way in which the various panels built up to the murder was very cinematic to a point where I could hear any number of classic movie soundtracks to Sherlock Holmes playing in my head.

Overall

Writer Lavie Tidhar continues the story in such a way that you are totally sucked in. I loved how she recaps the first issue via Jane Eyre’s diary entries about her initial meeting with Adler and the adventure they had together. It was very much like Dr. Watson’s diary entries regarding his friend Sherlock Holmes, which makes sense given that Adler is in this instance the female version of Holmes, who also happens to be the only woman to ever get the better of Holmes.

As far as plot twists go. There’s a few being set up. This issue alone gives us a few more classic characters from the period. One of which is a certain gentleman calling himself Jack who suspiciously looks like a rather young David Warner.