Sundays with Sherlock – The Final Problem

Published: Set for 4 April 2023
Publisher: NorthSouth Books
Pages: 56
Series: Stand Alone
Format Read: NetGalley Shelf App

Blurp:

Sherlock Holmes’ most famous adventure, in a striking graphic novel format.

Hunting hat, smoking pipe, coat collar turned up— that’s how we know Sherlock Holmes, the most famous detective of all time. He usually investigates from London’s Baker Street. But Holmes’ most spectacular case leads him in a fast-paced chase from the metropolis of London across the continent to the Swiss Alps. At the roaring Reichenbach Falls there is a showdown between Holmes and his archenemy Professor Moriarty. Who will triumph in this battle between good and evil?

Black and white line drawings on scratchboard is Hannes Binder’s trademark. The Zurich illustrator has created dramatic images of the Swiss landscape for this epic story, the pull of which is hard to resist. An exciting graphic novel for beginners and seasoned Holmes fans alike.

Thoughts:

I got this from NetGalley through the request to read an advanced copy option. The fact that this was for free did not influence my review of this book in any way, shape or form. I would like to thank NetGalley for making this kind of thing a possibility and to all other silent people in the backrooms for all their hard work.

It’s been some time since I did a Sunday with Sherlock post, but to be honest, I have not read many Sherlock since I completed all of Doyle’s original works. I did some posts earlier this year alongside Stooge, where wetried reviewing the first season of Cumberbatch’s version of Sherlock. I say tried as I do not think I did a very good job of remembering what I read so long ago and applying that to the series. On top of that, reviewing films and series I do not think it my forte, I sometimes think I am not well equipped for book reviews either, but I do like trying it out enough to keep on going.

This book is, in essence, an abbreviated version of a short story contained in Memoirs of Sherlock book. It tells the story of where Sherlock met his match and died at the hands of Moriarty and falling in the Reichenbach. Added to this shortened version of of an already short story we get art created by Hannes Binder, a scratchboard artist from Zurich, one can look at the cover of this book to see that he is pretty talented with whatever scratchboards are (I have never heard of this until now). As I enjoyed all the Sherlock I got from Doyle, this read was as enjoyable and pretty to look at, at the same time. I don’t know what else to say about a 56 page graphic other than what I just did, so I’ll stop there.

The only drawback or complaint I had with the version I had from NetGally was the fact that the pages looked like two pages cropped into one page which made reading it a bit difficult. Knowing the story though, I mainly gawped at the art as that is what made me request this. I know the finished format will probably look equally amazing, if not way better than the version I got, but knowing what I will get with a finished copy, I will settle for what I got in opposition to paying nearly 20 Dollars for a physical (estimated price listed on NG is $18.95). For that price I would rather recommend people to visit a library and read the original story instead. No slight or harsh comments towards the artist for this version though, I think he did a really neat job with what he set out to do. I gave this a 4 out of 5 on GR purely as I enjoyed the original works and having pictures that tells the story alongside key points of Watson’s narrative made for easy reading.

Thank you for your time.

Advertisement