Moriarty #1

Written by Daniel Corey
Art by Anthony Diecidue

I'm not now, nor have I ever been, a fan of Sherlock Holmes.  I can understand the appeal of the books to some people, and even the devotion the famous fictional detective inspires in some people, but Conan Doyle's character has never done it for me.

This new comic, centred on Holmes's greatest nemesis, was an impulse buy based on some nice art, and Image's recent track record for amazing comics.  I'm really glad I picked it up though, as it is a very good read.

The story opens in 1914 London, after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, but before the entire European continent is engulfed in the Great War.  Moriarty has been enjoying a sort of retirement from his criminal enterprises, instead taking on a role much like Holmes's, only for criminals.  He is contacted by a government agent to investigate the disappearance of Mycroft Holmes (brother of Sherlock, and important character in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).  What follows is a rather complicated beginning of an investigation which seems to be at the mercy of a great number of coincidences, and involves strange devices, Edgar Allan Poe references, and the Black Hand.

Corey's writing is interesting, and this is easily the densest comic I've bought since the last issue of Turf (I mean that in a good way, even if Corey can be a little verbose).  The art, by Anthony Diecidue, is quite appealing.  Picture layouts by Riley Rossmo and finishes by Guy Davis, and you should be able to imagine what this book looks like.

I feel like so much was happening in this comic that I'm going to need to read it again before the second issue comes out, but that I will definitely be buying that second issue.