Review – Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of London HC (Dark Horse)

February 4, 2014

1–2 minutes

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Sylvain Cordurié
Artist: Laci
Release Date: 5th February 2014

Sherlock Holmes is a character who has recently seen a revival of popularity thanks to the BBC drama starring Hollywood superstars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. It is therefore no big surprise that the character has been featured in a new batch of books released by Dark Horse, with Sherlock Holmes and the Vampires of London by Sylvain Cordurie serving as the most recent of these releases.

Sherlock Holmes as a character is known for his excess and substance abuse, but how this is portrayed in this release left a bad taste in my mouth. Addiction to illicit drugs is not something that should be highlighted as “cool” and that is certainly how it comes across off of the pages of the Vampires of London.

The overarching story does not fare any better throughout this 90-page hardcover, with a long-hidden Vampire clan coming to the surface after breaking a long held peace treaty with the royal family in order to dispose of a rogue Vampire who aims to expose the Vampires to the world and bring chaos to their lives.

The art in this book is its sole redeeming feature, with some well drawn sequences and fantastic atmospheric backgrounds which beautifully represent London in the 1800’s. However the wonderful art suffers from very poor panel placement, resulting in scenes often being read in the wrong order.

Overall, this is a book to avoid I am afraid.