MORIARTY: CLOCKWORK EMPIRE #2, from Titan Comics on March 22nd, 2023, dives deeper into the mystery behind Dr. Jekyll’s formula, the coincidence of Lady Li Mei’s appearance, and the deadly plan to destroy London.
The Details
- Written by: Fred Duval, Jean-Pierre Pécau
- Art by: Stevan Subic
- Colors by: Scarlett
- Letters by: Lauren Bowes
- Cover art by: Claudia Caranfa (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: March 22, 2023
Is It Good?
MORIARTY: CLOCKWORK EMPIRE #2 brings the mystery into sharp focus as the puzzle pieces come together in Fred Duval and Jean-Pierre Pécau’s tight, entertaining script. The plan to both destroy London and make the masterminds behind the plot a fortune is clever and a treat to watch unfold.
The beauty of Fred Duval and Jean-Pierre Pécau’s script is the expert way the various threads, started in issue #1, come together in a grand plan that greatly elevates the stakes of the challenge Holmes faces. A mystery works best when readers get enough clues to piece the solution together, but it works doubly so when the plan is much greater than sum of its parts.
In terms of writing execution, this plot moves at an impressively brisk pace for a double-sized issue with plenty of narration and dialog. The plot is intricate without becoming overly complicated, and the historical/fictional character cameos are a treat.
This issue is elevated further by Stevan Subic’s fantastic art. If you read the review for issue #1, you know there are plenty of parallels (in the story and the art) to Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but Subic keeps the gritty, heavily-shadowed art fresh without aping Kevin O’Neill’s work. We get more exposure to the Jekyll/Hyde character in this issue, and the monstrous designs are fantastic.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our MORIARTY: CLOCKWORK EMPIRE #1 review to find out how Dr. Jekyll found himself in a spot of trouble.
We begin with Sherlock Holmes in disguise passing off an invitation to Dr. Watson to attend a private party by Lady Li Mei. There, Watson is tasked with figuring out which attendees suffer from Opium addiction while Holmes searches the premises. To his surprise, Holmes finds Dr. Jekyll chained in the cellar and sets him free with the help of a morphine sedative.
Later, Holmes enlists the help of Franklin Lloyd Wright to supply him with a flying machine to follow Lady Li Mei’s private party in her flying zeppelin. Holmes crashes the flying machine a short distance from the zeppelin’s base, where Lady Li Mei and her mysterious partner are creating mass quantities of drugs.
We conclude the issue with an experiment, ninjas, and a plan coming to fruition.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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MORIARTY: CLOCKWORK EMPIRE #2 brings the mystery into focus and unveils an evil plan much greater than even Sherlock holmes expected. The writing is a perfect blend of a classic Holmes mystery set within Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen universe, and the art is fantastic.
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