Review by Frank Plowright

TV’s Sherlock is a notable exception, but since Sherlock Holmes dropped into the public domain creators working on new stories have tended to remain faithful to his original Victorian setting. Joel Meadows and Andy Bennett have swerved that route by settling on an older Holmes in 1930s London. Individual readers will know whether or not that’s interesting to them or heresy.

Holmes no longer lives at 221B Baker St, and indeed has to enter the premises furtively to retrieve an item left during his departure. It serves the plot, but strikes a false note that the meticulous detective would somehow forget a hidden item as he relocated. Other apparent anomalies are explained by this being an alternate universe where the London Underground is named the Subterra, and Crick, Watson and Franklin’s pioneering work on DNA occurs in the 1930s, enabling Watson to be Holmes’ now estranged companion.

These are all viable ideas, as is notorious 1930s British fascist Oswald Mosley as the prime villain arranging the deaths of those who cross him. However, this opening volume sets up a story by prioritising almost every character other than Holmes himself, who only features in the sequence of his visit to his former premises. The remainder relates a series of events with little mystery involved other than Mosley’s ultimate purpose, and the narrative captions lack sparkle or variety. Everyone is dour and obsessed.

Bennett’s art certainly plays into the mood, with atmospheric monochrome defining a gloomy world, and improving as the story continues. His character definition ensures a recognisable cast, and he has an appealingly delicate ink line, with design pages after the story showing just how good he is.

Sherlock Holmes and the Empire Builders will stand or fall overall on what follows, however most people buying a Sherlock Holmes story, alternate universe of otherwise, would expect far more mystery and a greater presence of the title character.