In Review: Moriarty: The Clockwork Empire #3

Synopsis: In this third issue of Moriarty. Holmes finds himself on familiar ground as he follows Li Mei’s airship to its destination.

The Story

Having discovered Lady Li Mei’s horrifying plan to unleash an army of Hyde Like beasts on the streets of London. He is captured before he is able to get the word out. Subsequently, London winds up being attacked by 8 of Lady Li Mei’s monsters, and immediate action is taken to evacuate Queen Victoria who is in a meeting with Lord Grey who is petitioning for there to be strict controls on the sale of Morphine and Coca due to its addictive qualities. Of course, Lady Li Mei’s plans are part of a scheme between her and Moriarty to ramp up the price of Morphine. Which just so happens to be the only thing that can pacify the Hyde monsters.

The Artwork

Stevan Subic once again produces some great visuals for the comic. The panels where we see the Hyde Monsters being airdropped onto the streets of London are really dramatic and could easily be replicated on a cinema screen with some good CGI work. However, it is the panels where we see the monsters destroying Buckingham Palace that really sell the danger to both the citizens of London and the throne.

We also get some brilliant foreshadowing imagery when we see Lady Li Mei ordering her people to relocate to a new site as she realizes that Holme’s escaping means that their Baskerville Hall site has been burned.  In the background, we can see a few giant robots that have a similar look and size to the Hyde Monsters.

Overall

This was a really strong third issue that upped the urgency and scale of the threat that Lady Li Mei represents to London. Further adding to the drama is that London has run out of Morphine, which could be a problem if Li Mei unleashes more of her monsters on the city.

Overall. Bring on issue 4 soon. I’m hooked.