Sherlockians make the best recommendations. I saw this mentioned in a fan group and as soon as I heard the concept, I knew I’d enjoy it.
Green Manor is a translated French comic, published by Cinebook Espresso, about an English club in the late 1800s where men gather to talk over vengeance and murder, or even to commit same. It’s a Victorian gentleman’s murder club.
The series has two volumes, Assassins and Gentleman and The Inconvenience of Being Dead. (The second volume is almost twice the length of the first.) Each book contains a variety of seven-page chapters, each one about some odd occurrence involving murder or revenge. Yet they’re all very different, albeit with an underlying disrespect for what men can sink to.
The art gives a wonderful period feel, with lush, detailed surroundings, and the cast is made up of a nice set of caricatures of the old gentleman type. Conan Doyle even makes an appearance, as two friends set out to create a masterpiece of murder and seize on him as their potential victim.
Many of the tales poke fun at human nature, at pomposity or the want to control others or the understandable desire to rid ourselves of those who make our lives miserable. Mistakes are often made, particularly when it comes to choosing a partner. The stories are often twisty, with surprising revelations that make the answers to the mysteries all the more rewarding, and with a wry look at venality, egotism, and selfishness.
English (US) · 