Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet for the first time in A Study in Scarlet, becoming roomies at 221b Baker Street and solving their first case together: murder most foul!
Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard’s comics adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic is about as good as the original which is to say that it’s just ok; Scarlet definitely isn’t the best Sherlock Holmes book. That’s largely down to the plodding explanation of the murderer’s motivations that take up most of the second half. It’s your standard lover’s revenge told in that rambling, overlong Victorian style that didn’t jibe with my modern reader’s tastes. Culbard’s art is also visually uninteresting and is more serviceable than anything.
But it was enjoyable to see the establishment of the famous duo’s relationship – Scarlet is a fine starting place for new Sherlock readers – and, with the clues slowly parcelled out and built up, the mystery is compelling up to the reveal. Holmes’ unique deductive skills remain the most impressive part of the story, even after all these years - it’s easy to see why audiences fell in love with this brilliant character when Conan Doyle wrote him so cleverly.
Having read Conan Doyle’s classic years ago, I’d say the graphic adaptation is better because Edginton retains the core mystery, plot and characters but filters out Conan Doyle’s extraneous waffle, making for a more enjoyable and streamlined read. A Study in Scarlet is worth reading for the world-building and character moments between Holmes and Watson rather than its central, forgettable murder mystery (which I remember being the case for most of the Sherlock Holmes books with few exceptions, like Baskervilles).
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