Sherlock’s a name most know thanks to popular culture (me, Detective Conan). And whether through book or TV form you’ve appreciated him, now you’ll have to do so in manga form.
Based on A Study of Pink episode of the Sherlock TV series by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Jay has turned that into a manga. This details how John Watson, whose medical service in the war is over, met the “extra-ordinary” Sherlock Holmes. An unlikely pair team up to solve multiple, and seemingly connected, suicides before others become victims.
Jay presents the detective in the form that Ran from Detective Conan REALLY hopes Shinichi never completely turns into: way ahead of everyone in solving mysteries, almost to an embarrassing but also overwhelming degree. So much so that of course no one at the police force actually likes him. But thanks to these suicides, which seem linked but show no connection, he’s brought in to help solve this case. That’s when the fourth suicide happens — and this time, a note was left at the scene. What exactly does this mean? How does this help Sherlock crack the case? Well in Sherlock fashion, he tries to use his advanced deduction — at his own peril!
Cramming all of Sherlock’s idiosyncrasies works in some ways, as it provides a compelling read. In others, with its pace and British English language, maybe too much. There were a few typos and errors than I normally catch in a manga. It also has a ton of words that might in some cases be unnecessary.
But as someone who knows of Sherlock Holmes and has not watched the TV series, seeing Benedict Cumberbatch drawn in this style looks pretty awesome. In fact, the first time we see him is him looking down close up at a dead patient. In general the manga is drawn well, though it doesn’t always look great when any action occurs. A good example is seeing Sherlock and Holmes’ face when chasing a potential culprit in this work.
Still though, it’s gonna come down to whether or not you’d want to figure out how Sherlock can obsess over the lack of a pink suitcase while everyone else is thinking he’s just a psychopath in comic form. I think if you’re in need of a manga mystery though, this is definitely worth a shot.