Comic Book Review: The Baker Street Peculiars #4
The statues in London have all gone missing, and legendary detective Sherlock Holmes is too busy to investigate. Instead he puts his youthful companions The Baker Street Peculiars on the case. They are Rajani, Molly, Humphrey, and Wellington the dog. For a shilling a week they will solve the mystery and return the statues to their rightful place.
[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”B01EBC6PPQ” locale=”US” src=”http://boundingintocomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/5112SgHFzHL.jpg” tag=”bounintocomi-20″ width=”325″]
[easyazon_link identifier=”B01EBC6PPQ” locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]The Baker Street Peculiars #4[/easyazon_link] marks the end of this enjoyable all ages mini-series. In the last issue the gang had been captured and placed in a jail cell by the evil golem Chippy Kipper. Kipper has used the same magic that created him to bring to life the city’s statues. The gang manages to escape thanks to the lock picking skills of the streetwise Rajani, and now they rush to stop the animated statues of London.
For the majority of the The Baker Street Peculiars #4, the main characters spend it disarming the statues of the magical shems that bring them to life, thus rendering them inert. In doing so they are seen by the neighborhood as local heroes, and the press would like a word or two for the paper.
It’s a straightforward plot as the team works to solve a supernatural mystery. There isn’t any political intrigue or double crosses made by any of the characters. The one thing it does do is place Sherlock Holmes in a mentor and financier role.
Despite the straightforward plot and all ages nature of The Baker Street Peculiars, writer Roger Langridge is able to make the story interesting to older readers as well. He uses strong dialogue and characters like Molly, the brains of the group. Her speech is intelligent and eloquent. There is also plenty of action without a drop of blood spilled.
The book also takes place in the 1930s, a period that wasn’t exactly known for treating women equally. Langridge does not skip around that fact, instead he uses it to his advantage by creating strong female characters who work to be treated equally by men. Both Rajani and Molly are strong willed lead characters, and Humphrey, an upper class boy, has to learn in earlier issues that even girls are capable of holding their own in a dangerous situation.
Artist Andy Hirsch uses clean,fun, and very cartoony artistic style. The book looks as if you could take it from the page to the television screen in what would be a fun Saturday morning cartoon. This I feel is no accident. Hirsch has worked on comic book adaptations for the cartoons Adventure Time, Regular Show and the comic strip Garfield. It is a fun style for a fun book and the art is a huge selling point on this series.
Although, this is the end of the series, The Baker Street Peculiars #4 has left it open for future stories.
Really as far as all ages titles go I can’t really think of what this comic book did wrong. The story was interesting and straightforward, the art was top notch, and the book is written in a way that even adults will enjoy reading it.
The Verdict
[easyazon_link identifier=”B01EBC6PPQ” locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]The Baker Street Peculiars #4[/easyazon_link] is a solid comic with good characters, a good plot, and great artwork. It has two strong female characters that should be appealing to a female audience. Adults will enjoy reading this as much as children will. It also has an open ending that allows these characters to potentially live on in future tales.
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