Amateur Holmesian Scholarship

Self Made Hero, possibly known to some of you as the creators of ‘Manga Shakespeare‘ and winners of the 2008 UK Young Publisher of the Year award, are currently on a publicity drive to promote their new Sherlock Holmes adaptations. Adapted by Ian Edginton and illustrated by INJ Culbard, who have worked hard to give us a faithful adaptation of our favourite duo, not a calabash pipe, deerstalker or severe bumbling in sight! Interestingly, the Self Made Hero headquarters can be found on Upper Wimpole Street, a few doors away from where ACD lived and decided to kill of Holmes, as well as not too far from Baker Street. 

Details from their press release:

A gnarled walking-stick; a missing boot; a neglected family portrait; a convicted killer on the loose; and the ancestral curse of a phantom hound… The great detective Sherlock Holmes needs all his powers of “elementary” deduction – as well as the staunch support of his devoted friend Dr. Watson – to solve the terrifying mystery of his most famous case.

In The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Conan Doyle resurrected his great “specialist in crime” – and dramatized a lifetime’s obsession with the supernatural. Joining him in the ancient and treacherous landscape of the Devonshire Moors are a cast of gentleman scientists: as well as his faithful chronicler Dr. Watson, we meet another medic, Dr. Mortimer, a self-confessed “dabbler in science;” the lawyer Frankland, an amateur astronomer; and the Darwinian butterfly-collector Stapleton, whose mania for logical classification rivals Holmes’ own. But that is only half the story. For what can rational science do to help Sir Henry, the new incumbent of Baskerville Hall, escape the ancestral curse of the phantom hound that has claimed his uncle’s life? Why are the servants behaving so strangely? And who is the mysterious figure glimpsed through Frankland’s telescope? This atmospheric graphic novel adaptation – by Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard – will keep you guessing.

SelfMadeHero’s new Sherlock series will be formed by Conan Doyle’s four great detective novels: The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four and The Valley of Fear. The series launches in Spring 2009 with The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The illustrations are beautiful, just look at the images from HOUND (clickable thumbnails).

The images and the press release are from the media pack, available to download on Self Made Hero’s Sherlock Holmes site. Details of how to order a copy are also listed on the site and it’s currently priced at £14.99.

After twelve years of legal complications, Portsmouth Council is now in possession of one of ACDs manuscripts (‘The Adventure of the Creeping Man’). From what I read in the news report, I’m a little confused; if Dame Jean Conan Doyle wanted the council to have the manuscript (it was in her will) why has it taken twelve years of legal stuff? Oh well, I guess legal stuff is always confusing and overly complicated.

Gameloft, who are very big in the mobile phone gaming world, have secured a deal with WB to produce a Sherlock Holmes mobile phone game based on Guy Ritchie’s film. I think I’m fairly fortunate that my phone isn’t something I’d ever consider gaming on (it can do it but I can’t see the point), it’ll probably come out for the iPhone and iPod Touch… if it’s free, sure I’ll play it but I’m not going to cash out.

Awhile back a preview review of the new Sherlock Holmes graphic novel was done by Robot 6 at the Comic Resource – needless to say, I’m still rather excited. You can pre-order it on Amazon, priced £18.99 (seems a bit steep but I’m sure it’ll drop in price!) I’m unsure on the release date but Amazon say 15th November. Also, just so you’re aware this isn’t the graphic novel the film is based on which as far as I know is yet to be released.

Okay, there’s been a fair few new stories relating to Holmes recently – I’d be here for awhile if I blogged about them all individually so here’s a nice little round up of what’s been popping up on the Holmes front… (see what I did there?)

Mark Strong (playing the bad guy in Guy Ritchie’s film) has given some details about his character and also talked about how the film ends (which the Sun nicely published for all to see). In an interview with Total Film he said about Lord Blackwood (who may be based on Alistair Crowly):

“There’s a touch of Dracula about him,” Strong told Total Film. “He needed to have an element of showmanship about him by virtue of the fact that he’s trying to persuade everyone around him that he’s so in league with the Devil that he’s able to conquer death. I just wanted to make him an equal adversary of Sherlock Holmes.”

and as for the ending, well it seems unbelievably stupid that a man of brains is reduced to this:

“There’s a fantastic sequence where we duel on a half-built Tower Bridge. Robert Downey Jr and I hammer seven bells out of each other on top of this swinging bridge with Victorian London as a backdrop.”

The Guardian had an interesting article comment after talking about how the new film isn’t going to be for the Holmes fans:

“I think as much as anything, the reinvention is actually a return to the idiosyncrasies that Conan Doyle had in his books that people hadn’t really paid much attention to.”

Yes … For the record, there is a single reference in the entire canon to Holmes’s martial arts skills, in which Conan Doyle contrives to spell “bartitsu” as “baritsu”.

It’s nice to know that other people are starting to pick up this sort of thing. Holmes doesn’t need re-invention, he needs leaving well and truly alone.

In other news, Frogware’s new game ‘Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper’, will be coming to the Xbox 360. There’s no date announced as of yet but this should be interesting news – I haven’t been able to play the latest games because my graphics card sucks and even though later this year I am planning to buy a new laptop with a funky graphics card, I wouldn’t mind getting the game for the Xbox and giving you a review.

You might not be aware but there is a new graphic novel in development that features Sherlock Holmes, it’s being put together by Leah Moore and John Reppion with artwork from Aaron Campbell and John Cassaday (interview with Cassaday about the visual look of the novel). It’s entitled ‘The Trial of Sherlock Holmes’ and is supposedly out in May, as for what the plot actual contains there hasn’t been much released but Leah Moore did say this about it when asked (and for the record, I don’t think it has anything to do with Dracula, the same authors are working on a Dracula adaptation).

Our story takes place after The Adventure of the Empty House so after the Reichenback falls, after Holmes’ return. It’s set in London, so a lot of the same ground our characters tread in Dracula really. I don’t think I can say too much about what he is on trial for, but safe to say it’s something big! Circumstances lead him into a sticky situation, and then he only has his wits to rely on. Luckily Sherlock Holmes has more wits than most!

Finally, io9 have done a list of 22 instances of Sherlock Holmes in science fiction.