COMIC: WILDSTORM'S VICTORIAN UNDEAD #1 UNLEASHED THIS WEEK

The first issue of Wildstorm Comics new Sherlock Holmes series - Victorian Undead - was unleashed to comic shops this past week, and happily, it is a fine and extremely fun read.

Written by Ian Edginton, with art by Davide Fabbri and a cover by Tony Moore, the book kicks off with a strange and ominous meteor shower in 1854 then jumps ahead to 1898 where workers in the Underground make a deadly and gruesome discovery. Soon after, when faced with a snarling and rabid corpse that won't stay still, Lestrade summons Sherlock Holmes for assistance, only to be warned off by ominous men in black - agents of Her Majesty's Secret Service. So begins the first issue in this exciting new six issue series pitting Holmes against a Zombie plague!

Ian Edginton (also doing a great job of adapting Conan Doyle's Holmes novels, with art by I.N.J Culbard, for Sterling's Illustrated Classics graphic novel series) does a marvelous job of presenting us with a highly intriguing, and so far mysterious, start to this challenging concept, with a hint that there will be far more to this series than simply pitting Holmes against a mindless zombie horde. Dialogue and story are both very convincing and his presentation of Holmes as an energetic,  curious and driven individual works extremely well. The proceedings are complemented by the beautifully rendered artwork of Davide Fabbri, whose character design for Holmes is, if perhaps a bit too handsome and super-heroic in proportions, a perfectly acceptable and appealing creation. Watson fares a little less well and is presented as a slightly stocky, gray-haired gent, sporting spectacles. The zombies are suitably ghastly and actually fairly disgusting to look upon, which is as it should be! Perhaps my only complaint about the look of the book is the somewhat over-lit and vivid colouring applied to the artwork, but it's a minor quibble. On the whole, this is a terrific read in every way and provides a great deal of fun for the imaginative reader, if not for the Sherlockian purist. Get out to your local comic shop and pick this one up! Highly Recommended.

For more info on the series, including cover art for upcoming issues, visit the Wildstorm Comics site.