The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel

This better than average comics version of the quintessential 1901 Sherlock Holmes novel shows the first private detective's cool rationality confronting gibbering horror in order to thwart an ancient curse, a hound from hell that kills the male heads of a wealthy family. Patriarch Sir Charles Baskerville just having been frightened to death, Holmes and Dr. Watson set out to protect the family heir, Sir Henry. Few trappings of gothic mystery are missing from the action, but they are countered by Holmes's instructions that Watson should observe closely and analyze skeptically everything he sees. Edginton's script is much closer to Conan Doyle's original than most adaptations, although that does mean that the characters get to talk a lot. Culbard's energetic layouts and darkly sinister backgrounds are effective; when he turns to the story's people, unfortunately, the Seth-like brushwork stretches their heads until they look like animated kidney beans. Overall, though, Hound gives modern readers a taste of what makes Sherlock Holmes an immortal character. (Sept.)