News — Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle

"Due on 12 September is A Scandal in Bohemia, adapted as a graphic novel by the brilliant Czech illustrator Petr Kopl and translated (back) into English by Paul & Jana Simpson. Actually there are two adventures here, the other being ‘The Speckled Band’, and both serve to show Holmes that women can be just as courageous and intelligent as men – much to Watson’s satisfaction. The result is a feast for the eye and the imagination. The vivid, exciting text is enhanced by artwork that’s by turns deeply atmospheric and devastatingly funny – and often beautiful. This is a thoroughly classy production (MX Publishing;www.mxpublishing.co.uk). The original won the 2013 Fabula Rasa Czech Award for...

"Volume 1 of A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan  Doyle’s Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the  Supernatural, edited by Derrick Belanger. The  influence of Poe on Conan Doyle wasn’t limited to his  stories of detection: the tales of mystery and imagination  left their mark as well. ACD didn’t write very much in  that vein, but the best of it can be classed with the best of  Poe. Here are eight stories – ‘The Terror of Blue John  Gap’, ‘The Horror of the Heights’, ‘The Captain of the  Pole Star’, ‘J Habakuk Jephson’s Statement’, ‘The  Leather Funnel’, ‘The Silver Mirror’,...

“Project Two, to One, Be: Sherlock Holmes and a House of Light, Shadows and Views edited by Carrie Carlson & Lynn Gale. John Gibson has written the introduction, and the foreword is by Laurie R King. There follow nearly 140 pages of essays, long and short, enhanced by photographs and original artwork, some of it, like Riley  Stark’s cover design, outstanding. Ms Carlson notes:  ‘Not all of our contributors are professionals in their chosen medium, and many of the writers are non-native English Speakers, and yet they all speak from the heart.” All the royalties from the book go to the...

“If there’s one thing I love besides Sherlock Holmes, it’s Lego. I have a shelf full of Lego figures (I have lots of character ones-Marvel, Lord of the Rings etc) and I loved The Lego Movie beyond comprehension. So when I saw that P James Macaluso Jr  had created illustrated versions of Conan Doyle’s work using Lego figures, I was giddy beyond belief! I looked at three of Macaluso’s Holmes books: A Case of Identity, The Red-Headed League and A Scandal in Bohemia. (Others are available but they’re currently in pre order-check the links at the bottom of the review to order!)...

"Advance Review: A Scandal in Bohemia by Petr Kopl Strange, eh? The book isn’t even out yet. But I am one of the privileged few to see it (thank you, Steve Emecz and Petr Kopl), and I couldn’t be happier. The funding of this comic book on Kickstarter has gathered well over thrice the amount aimed at. There’s still time left, so it will probably cross fourtimes the required amount. If you haven’t booked your copy yet - do so right away here; I have a feeling all places stocking it would put up “sold out” boards within days of its release, and Steve will have to...