In Review: Moriarty: The Clockwork Empire #2 – Holmes and Watson face the monstrous Mr. Hyde!

Synopsis: Holmes and Watson face the monstrous Mr. Hyde! In a London opium den, a monster is killed by the police with seven bullets to the body. At the Diogenes club, an investigator and his partner thwart the Machiavellian plans of a card-playing automaton, and that evening the monster’s alter ego will come out of the hospital unscathed… and Holmes and Watson are on the case!

The Story

Having searched the living quarters of Dr. Jekyll in the last issue. Holmes finds an invitation to a party being hosted by Lady Li Mei who is the widow of famed inventor Alfred Noble. Seemingly Li Mei has been working alongside a criminal mastermind and they have plans to corner the market in Opium. But how is the mysterious Mr. Hyde connected to this scheme? While Dr. Watson attends Li Mei’s party. Sherlock Holmes works out where Mr. Hyde is being held and is surprised to learn that Jekyll and Hyde are indeed the same people. Having found that Jekyll & Hyde. Holmes places the disturbed scientist into the custody of his older brother Mycroft while he follows Li Mei’s airship to its destination.

The Artwork

Stevan Subic continues to do a brilliant job of the artwork and perfectly captures the mood of Victorian London. I loved the sequence toward the end of the book where Holmes borrows a very steampunk-looking flying contraption from a fellow called Wright. Who we can only assume is one of the Wright brothers. The sequence that follows when Holmes crashes his flying machine into a bog on Baskerville Hill is brilliantly done.

Overall

It goes without saying. I’m loving this book and can literally hear the very clipped Received annunciation in my head whenever Holmes and Watson are speaking with each other. I can also hear the pomposity in some of the toffs attending Li Mei’s party.

In regards to villains. We see a fair bit in this issue from Li Mei as well as some great dialogue from her partner in crime who we can only assume is Holme’s arch-nemesis, Moriarty.

Overall. The writing team is doing a great job on this series and I can’t wait for the next issue to drop.