HOLMES & HOUDINI: THE CURSE OF MORIARTY, by Zenescope on 9/18/24, finds the detective and escape artist teaming up with Liesel Van Helsing to track down a brain-eating monster.
Credits:
- Writer: David Wohl
- Artist: Renato Rei, Massimiliano La Manno, Allan Otero
- Colorist: Maxflan Araujo
- Letterer: Taylor Esposito
- Cover Artist: Guillermo Fajardo (cover A)
- Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
- Release Date: September 18, 2024
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover Price: $6.99
- Page Count: 50
- Format: Double-Sized Issue
Covers:
Analysis of HOLMES & HOUDINI: THE CURSE OF MORIARTY:
First Impressions:
We had such high hopes for the return of Holmes & Houdini as Zenescope’s most promising new hero team, but the reality didn’t live up to the expectation. David Wohl’s latest adventure is a slow, dull adventure that gets the job done, but you’ll forget it as soon as you turn the last page.
Plot Analysis:
Holmes & Houdini: The Curse of Moriarty begins with a prologue flashback in 1896 London depicting Liesel Van Helsing and Sherlock Holmes tracking and trapping an emaciated beast that feeds on brains. Sherlock Holmes laid a trap to imprison the beast, the Fear Gorta from Irish folklore, in a vault underneath a house owned by The Order. The trap worked, so the creature remained hidden for over a century.
Writer David Wohl starts the story with a reasonably energetic action sequence that introduces the monster and informs the reader that Liesel once worked with the famous detective. Moving on.
Now, Spencer Holmes calls Erica Houdini for assistance after Spencer receives a call from Watson about a disturbance in one of The Order properties, the same one shown in the opening. Erica is reluctant to join because she’s not convinced she’s meant for the hero’s life, but Spencer persuades her to come along. When the two arrive in London and at the house in question, Watson is nowhere to be found. Watson calls Spencer and informs her about a break-in in the lower levels.
Here, the story starts to veer off track as too many things are happening off-panel or developments are occurring without anyone stopping to question the oddity of the situation. Why would Spencer drag Erica all the way to London without any details or preparation? When Watson isn’t where he said he would be, why don’t Spencer and Erica react to the super obvious red flag? Sure, Spencer and Erica may be new to the hero game, but their actions are downright foolish.
Spencer and Erica search the house and find the open vault from the prologue. The Fear Gorta is dead, and its chest is ripped open. Suddenly, Liesel Van Helsing enters the room, explaining she tracked several recent murders back to the vault after recognizing how the victims (Liesel’s investigation happens off-panel). Liesel makes her introductions and explains how she encountered Holmes, Moriarty, and the Fear Gorta all those years ago.
Liesel’s explanation makes sense as a flashback to the flashback, but it’s unclear why Wohl placed it here instead of opening with a complete picture. Regardless, the flashback to the flashback fills in a few blanks while opening a few more that never get resolved, such as how or why Moriarty came in contact with a Fear Gorta.
Liesel joins Spencer and Erica as the three believe the recent break-in is connected to the Moriarty family. What follows is a lackadaisical attempt at infiltrating the Moriarty home, attending a charity ball at the Moriarty estate later that night, and eventually getting pulled into a generational scheme.
The issue concludes with man-made monsters, sibling rivalry of the deadly kind, and more Moriarty troubles on the horizon.
Overall, Holmes & Houdini: The Curse of Moriarty has the right players, the right concept, and plenty of potential. Unfortunately, the potential is squandered with poor pacing and dull execution that results in a completely forgettable one-shot.
Artwork and Presentation:
Renato Rei, Massimiliano La Manno, and Allan Otero join forces to bring this double-sized one-shot to life. On the whole, the comic looks good to great. The Fear Gorta’s look is creepy, the brief bits of action are well done, and the character designs are mostly distinctive. Visual cues get a little dicey during the charity event when you can’t tell Liesel from several other party-goers without her trademark outfit.
Art Samples:
Final Thoughts:
(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)
HOLMES & HOUDINI: THE CURSE OF MORIARTY brings the newest hero team back to fight a monster with ties to the famous Sherlock Holmes and Liesel Van Helsing. David Wohl’s central concept has promise, and the multi-member art team does a fine job, but the story execution is poorly plotted, slow, and dull.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.