Watson v. Holmes #1

Watson v. Holmes launches a 12-issue series with plenty of horror intrigue. It’s written by Jon Santana (story co-written with Rafael Santana), illustrated by Jordan Rodriguez, and published by Iron Age Comics.

I hadn’t heard of them before, but they apparently publish via crowdfunding. Which is where I found an excellent summary of the series premise. In short, Sherlock Holmes is presumed dead after Reichenbach. Watson has a daughter, Scarlett, who’s been framed for the murder of her fiancee Lila. Lila, however, has been turned by vampire Sherlock. There’s also the retired (and drunk) Inspector Lestrade, helping Watson investigate an evil tech corporation.

Note that all this is modern day, not historically set. When Watson visits his wife’s grave, the stone says she passed in 2024. Apparently, this Holmes went over the falls sometime in 2020 or 2021? (We’re shown his gravestone, but I can’t read the dates on it.)

Yet he’s still wearing the deerstalker, playing violin, and smoking the calabash pipe. This is his introduction to us.

There are plenty of deductions, layered over a superpowered vampire fight, giving the reader both the intellectual and the visual action. With (warning) lots of blood gushing. Still, the mystery is intriguing, and I’m eager to see Watson figure out more and then confront his former partner. I love seeing Watson take charge. Here, he’s definitely a smart, bad-ass former army doctor.

If you’re into variant covers, there are a bunch, confusingly labeled. The first above, is the main cover A by Tristan Elwell. You can see why I was confused about the time period, with the dressing gown and collar — although most people won’t be noticing those details.

The second, red one is cover B, by Rob Gramlich. That one is also available as a retailer incentive with an acetate wrap. (During the Kickstarter, however, A and B were flipped.) Cover D, below, by Jordan Rodriguez, is more traditionally “comic-booky”.

Then there’s this one that was maybe a Kickstarter exclusive by Kit Wallis. It’s not attractive. Anyway, issue #2 is due in September, where we maybe find out more about Holmes’ plan and its connections to Watson’s family.