Help get Watson and Holmes into print!
You like Sherlock Holmes, right? You also like modern adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic characters, and you also like racebent versions of these characters. And you like comics.
(Oh wait, that’s just me)
But if you’re like me, please consider donating to the Watson and Holmes Kickstarter campaign. New Paradigm Studios has been putting out this comic digitally, but they want to expand into print, so they’re attempting to raise some money to do so. Donating as little as $1 will get your name printed in the first issue. The campaign has been doing extremely well so far, but they still haven’t reached their goal. I think you’ll agree that the more Holmes/Watson versions, the better, and I personally would like to have a print version of this comic to go along with the version I have on my computer.
For those who want more info on the comic, here’s an excerpt from the Kickstarter page.
WATSON AND HOLMES, by Karl Bollers & Rick Leonardi, is a re-envisioning of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson as African Americans living in New York City’s famous Harlem district. Watson, an Afghanistan war vet, works in an inner-city clinic; Holmes, a local P.I. who takes unusual cases. When one of them ends up in Watson’s emergency room, the unlikely duo strike up a partnership to find a missing girl. Watson And Holmes bump heads along the way as they enter a labyrinth of drugs, guns, gangs and a conspiracy that goes higher and deeper than they could have imagined.
I’ve seen Elementary fans claiming their Sherlock is better than Sherlock’s because ours is an asshole and theirs is ‘sympathetic’ and ‘kind’.
I have nothing against Elementary, but may I just remind you - Sherlock is an asshole, because Sherlock is canonically an asshole. He was described as being cold, dispassionate and arrogant - not kind.
oh dear.
From ‘The Adventure of the Three Garridebs’, when Watson is shot: “For the first time, I had a glimpse of a great heart as well as a great brain.”
From ‘The Adventure of the Six Napoleons’, when Lestrade pays Holmes a sincere and heartfelt compliment : “And as he turned away, it seemed he was more nearly moved by the softer human emotions than I had ever seen him.”
From ‘The Problem of Thor Bridge’, when a rich client explains how he tried to seduce his children’s governess: “this young lady was in a sense under your protection…you have tried to ruin a defenseless girl who was under your roof. Some of you rich men have to be taught that all the world cannot be bribed into condoning your offenses.”
From ‘The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger’, after hearing the tragic story of a woman whose face was mauled by a lion; “Then Holmes stretched out his long arm and patted her hand with such a show of sympathy as I had seldom known him to exhibit, ‘Poor girl!’ he said, ‘Poor girl! The ways of fate are indeed hard to understand. If there is not some compensation hereafter, then the world is a cruel jest’ “
From ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’, when speaking with a client whose father is physically abusive: “Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist. ‘You have been cruelly used,’ said Holmes.”
Also, in “The Adventure of Abbey Grange,” he helps a young man escape, who intervened to prevent an alcoholic aristocrat from beating his wife.
In “The Adventure of the Second Stain”, Holmes goes out of his way to shield Lady Hilda from her husband’s anger, even though the husband was Holmes’ client.
In “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” he lets a pathetic petty criminal go free because he doesn’t think making him a ‘jailbird’ will help.
There are many other instances of Holmes showing kindness, empathy and even breaking the law to help people gain justice.
Other phrases and words Watson uses to describe Holmes at various times:
“quiet, genial.”
“without a harshness, which was foreign to his nature.”
“he had a remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women.”
Holmes may have displayed a certain impatience for social affectation, but he maintains a strong moral compass and asserts this fact several times, in various situations, towards various people.
This idea that Holmes is a “sociopathic” asshole is quite a contemporary reading and, might I add, a lazy one that’s as ignorant of mental illness as it is offensive to those of us who’re tired of white men getting to stomp all over people in the name of ‘genius’ and ‘anti-hero’ status. BBC Sherlock’s reading of Holmes is one that’s built on popular cultural tropes, and succeeds because of it. ‘Elementary’ reads Holmes with a fuller attention to the complexities of his character.
Anytime someone says ‘well Holmes is an asshole’ as a conclusive fact, I know that your canon knowledge is either limited or deliberately misinterpreted.
Do some re-reading.
Just a reminder that there’s basically no ‘right way’ to adapt Holmes. Sherlock is no more faithful to source material than Elementary (and in many ways less.) Elementary isn’t only way to do Holmes in a modern setting. Basically, it’s a case of creators dipping into the books and picking out the parts they like. Moffat apparently liked the misogyny and dispassionate nature, Ritchie liked the physicality and the quirky playfulness, the Elementary creators have picked up on the addictive personality and the intellectualism. All of these things exist in the original stories and are fair game. So let’s not try and pretend that there’s only one right answer. Especially Sherlock fans, because, seriously, no.
(Source: lesamisdelabaisses)
Ms. Hudson describing the new book arrangement. “That way, Physics by Aristotle is as far away from You Can Learn Telepathy Morton Zuckerman as possible.”
Honour Among Punks: Sherlock Holmes like you’ve never seen her before.
Did you know there’s a comicbook where Holmes and Watson are both women and it’s set in an alternate-history 1980s where Victorian society continued on throughout the 20th century because World War II never happened? And Holmes (Sharon) is a punk who solves punk crimes that are ignored by the police? And she has an angry punk girlfriend named Sam, who lives with her and nerdy American med-student Watson at 112 Baker Street?
Well there is! And look at this sassiness! More info at Hello Tailor
It’s almost more from Watson’s point of view than Holmes canon, because Watson-as-narrator is enthusiastic but still mostly a naiive outsider to Sharon and her girlfriend’s standoffish circle of punk acquaintances. Sharon is more of a mystery than canon Holmes, possibly because her closest emotional connection is to Sam rather than to Watson, who fills the role of well-meaning sidekick as Sam becomes more and more embittered about Sharon’s obsession with her work. The mysteries resemble classic Holmes without being direct adaptations (they investigate a forgery ring that’s somehow connected with the London punk scene; Sharon tracks a latter-day Jack The Ripper who preys only on men), and the characters frequent an underground nightclub called Baskerville’s.
