Irregulars

This handsome volume is illustrated by Angelo Ty Dazo in a black and white style that is both contemporary and yet evocative of a Victorian penny dreadful. The tone of the adventure is established by a series of Joe Friday-style captions set over a moody cityscape: "It's the year of our Lord 1885. The city's our London. The hour's on midnight. My name's Wiggins." I am a sucker for a tale about a gang of spunky lads, and they don't come spunkier than Wiggins and the Irregulars (Patch, Molly, James, Burke, Puck and, since they gotta have a dog, Toby). When Watson is charged with murder and Sherlock Holmes is otherwise engaged (Yeah, right, just like he was too busy to help Henry Baskerville), the responsibility of exonerating the good doctor is entrusted to Wiggins and Company. Taking to the street to see everything and overhear everyone, the intrepid youngsters encounter a terrifying cosmic evil in Whitechapel unlike anything ever faced by Holmes himself. Only with the help of Professor Challenger, Miss Adler and H. P. Lovecraft's ill-fated musician Erich Zann can the plucky Irregulars hope to foil Moriarty (!) and survive to collect their shillings. As is perhaps natural in a story of energetic youth, there is more emphasis on wide-screen action than calm ratiocination, but that is what the illustrated medium is designed for. Best of all, however, are the nicely drawn (in every sense of the word) characters of the Irregulars. Instead of indistinguishable dirty-faced ragamuffins clattering up and down the 221b stairs, Altman and Reaves present a group of vivid individuals with clearly defined personalities and, like any elite task force, specialized abilities.... Sort of a dirty half dozen. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I would love to follow the adventures of these Irregulars as they grow and mature --- Molly the matchstick girl is going to be a real heartbreaker.