Forgotten Books: Batman - The Black Glove

(My latest entry in Patti Abbott's Friday Forgotten Books. For the complete list, head on over to her blog.)

Most of these forgotten books are rare gems out of the public eye that bloggers want other readers to remember. I mean, really, why would a blogger spend the time to post a “Keep Away” sign for a book best left forgotten? The good folks over at DC Comics probably have some hopes that various titles throughout it’s long publishing history remain forever forgotten. You wouldn’t think Batman would be on that list and he isn’t...assuming you overlook the 1950s output. This is the era where Batman fought aliens, met various Batmen of other countries, and had a bunch of silly adventures that don’t fall in line with the darker tone most prominent in the 1940s and from the 1970s onward.

Grant Morrison didn’t overlook the 1950s. In fact, he took a most novel approach: reincorporate some of the more outlandish elements of the 1950s Batman stories and put them back in the larger canon. Batman: The Black Glove is one of the story arcs that does precisely that.

In Part I of The Black Glove, Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) travel to an isolated Caribbean island to meet up with other crime fighters from across the world. These guys (and one gal) are The International Club of Heroes, AKA “The Batmen of Other Nations” story from the 1950s. You have the Indian Batman, a dude called Wingman, a swashbuckling swordsman, a guy from England. (Hey! This was the 1950s, remember?) Once the Dynamic Duo arrive on the island, a sort of “Ten Little Indians” scenario starts where certain characters start being killed and it’s up to Bats, Robin, and the other Club members (who don’t necessarily trust Batman) to solve the problem before they all perish.

Part II of the story arc involves a Gotham City Police Department initiative to train certain policemen to be Batman in case the real hero dies. Bat-mite shows up in this one as Bruce/Batman has a heart attack and is captured. Here, Bruce remembers forgotten events (i.e., the original 1950s Batman stories) as he attempts to defeat his kidnapper. The end result sets up a couple of things. One, the giant “R.I.P.” story line, and two, the presence of a dark, criminal group known as The Black Glove whose sole purpose is a years-long undermining and destruction of Batman himself.

It’s a good story, although I think the first part is more fun. The second is deeper with a decided psychological bent to it. Morrison delves into the elephant in the room when it comes to the Dark Knight: that, technically, Bruce Wayne is mentally disturbed to do what he does. A new lady friend of Bruce, Jezebel Jet, calls him on it and puts a name to it. And, just like any good monthly comic, the last panel is one of the biggest cliffhangers I’ve seen in a long time.

As I catch up on the Bat-stories I’ve missed these past few years, I started here. It leads into the “R.I.P.” story arc, followed by “What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader” and “Final Crisis.” I enjoyed the books and the fresh take on an era most people dismiss out of hand. The artwork by Tony S. Daniel is vivid, colorful, evocative, and fluid. There’s a great number of visual homages to earlier stories that I enjoyed discovering and his use of various shapes and panels to tell the story was terrific.

DC Comics may have forgotten the stories from the 1950s but Grant Morrison didn’t. Now you can revisit a forgotten time in Batman’s history and see where it leads him. My review of Batman: R.I.P. will be next in this series.

"The Dark Knight Returns" Movie -- Why?

Over at The Tainted Archive, there's a story about how the famous Frank Miller graphic novel that ushered in the darker Batman might be made into a movie. It would stand apart from the new continuity established by Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale. Clint Eastwood's been mentioned as taking on the role with Zach Snyder directing.

As much as I love Batman (see my forgotten book review tomorrow), I have but one question: WHY? Didn't Snyder and company learn anything from Watchmen? It's not a slam against the well-made movie version of Watchmen, it's just that the source material--art included--is so good and vivid that we really didn't need the film version. Do we really need a film version of The Dark Knight Returns?

CSI: Miami - "Show Stopper" - Review

Only a day late, I have submitted my review of Monday's CSI: Miami episode. You can read it at BSC Review.

Book Giveaway

Author and fellow blogger Linda Weaver Clarke has a book giveaway via Suko's Notebook. The book being awarded is an autographed copy of Miranda and the Wild West. Suko reviews Clarke's latest novel, David and the Bear Lake Monster. Head on over and leave a comment. You'll get your name in the running. There are bonus ways to get your name in as well. You have until 24 January.

Book Review Club: The Trial of Sherlock Holmes by Leah Moore and John Mark Reppion

(This is the January 2010 contribution to Barrie Summy's Book Review Club. For a complete list of other participating authors, click the link at the end of this review.)

If anyone disliked the new Sherlock Holmes movie for its modernization of the character (I didn't), the new comic book story “The Trial of Sherlock Holmes” will go a long way to making things right for them. In this tale from Dynamite Comics, authors Leah Moore and John Mark Reppion have scripted a gripping story that is not unlike another famous Holmes story by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In the opening panels, a huge explosion near the river rips its way through the East End district. The next morning, Dr. Watson makes his entrance into 221B Baker Street. In a nice change from the stories, when Holmes makes his characteristic deductions about Watson’s activities, the good doctor takes it all in stride and moves forward (rather than the astonishment he usually exudes in the stories). These events take place in 1895, some eight years after the two men first met. It’s nice to see Watson is used to Holmes’ “magical” deductions.

According to a letter Holmes has received, the explosion is not some random act. Sir Samuel Henry, former assistant police commissioner, writes to Holmes that he, Henry, is to be murdered at his house precisely at 7pm the next day. If Henry makes plans not to be at his house at the appointed hour, additional explosions will tear London apart. Naturally, Holmes and Watson, together with Inspector Lestrade and a cadre of London’s finest, all guard Henry and his estate. While waiting, Lestrade informs Holmes of another, separate, typed letter. It seems some loyal Britons don’t want the Germanic Baron Lothair to set foot upon English soil, something the nobleman is about to do on a tour of London’s great monuments.

As the gentlemen are discussing these developments, Sir Henry’s many clocks chime a quarter until seven. A few minutes later, a request is delivered by one of the policemen: Sir Henry wishes Holmes to come into his bedroom, alone. This Holmes does. At precisely seven o’clock, a single shot rings out. Lestrade, Watson, Detective Inspector Davis (of special branch), and all the policemen race upstairs. Seeing the door to Sir Henry’s bedroom locked from the inside, they break it down. What they find astonishes them: Holmes, standing over the dead body of Sir Henry, a smoking revolver in his hand, his face containing a look of utter surprise.

Now, if you happened to purchase the first issue at your local comic store last year, this is where issue #1/chapter one ends. Yeah, I couldn’t wait for the next issue either. The second chapter begins in a bad way—Holmes is arrested and thrown in prison—and goes downhill from there. Literally to say any more about what happens in chapter two (and how it ends) would ruin the enjoyment of a fulfilling and complicated story, full of surprises, none more so than the one revealed on the last page.

One aspect that happily surprised me is the relationship between Watson and Lestrade. If you’ve read the stories, you know Holmes has all but disdain for the metropolitan police, Lestrade being merely one slightly more capable than the rest. Lestrade here holds his own and shows him to be as loyal to Holmes as Watson. Even Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, makes an appearance.

I’ve gone this far and not mentioned the most crucial aspect of “The Trial of Sherlock Holmes”: the artwork. Aaron Campbell’s drawings capture Victorian England in all its little nuances and detail. There’s a sepia quality to some of the panels and his use of shadow and light is superb. Campbell draws Holmes in a traditional way, much like Sidney Paget did in the original Strand illustrations. Watson gains a little weight and is a bit more jowly but it suits him. Again, Lestrade is best served here. Unlike the often spindly way he appears in older illustrations, in “The Trial,” he is a striking presence. Firm jawed, handsome, his hair short and well kept, his mustache neatly trimmed, Lestrade is a modern man here, visibly a police man but one that can win the heart of a fair maiden after hours. Truth be told, I could read an entire series featuring Lestrade as long as Campbell draws him. When I read that “The Trial” is Campbell’s first comic sale, I was glad to be present at the beginning of a great career.

“The Trial of Sherlock Holmes” is now available in hardcover. The book comes with some great extras. There is an afterward by noted Sherlockian Leslie Klinger as well as Moore and Reppion. Also included is the script the authors gave Campbell to direct his art complete with references to special effects and dialogue boxes. I loved flipping from the text description to the glorious pictures Campbell created. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the workings of a comic book. Lastly, Campbell illustrates a few pictures for the reprinted original Holmes story, “The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot,” from His Last Bow.

Holmes pastiches are often fun and provide authors other than Conan Doyle a chance to play with Holmes and Watson. Rest assured: “The Trial of Sherlock Holmes” can stand with the best of them. I can think of no better way to spend Holmes' birthday (today) than to head on out to your local book or comic store and pick up a copy. After reading this story, I had the same thought I did when I finished watching the new movie: I’m looking forward to the sequel.

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Favorite Songs of the 2000s

Here, for fun, are my 25 favorite songs of the decade, in chronological order.

If You’re Gone - Matchbox 20 - How Chicago could sound if they tried harder

Yellow - Coldplay - First song I ever heard; still one of their best

Always Crashing in the Same Car - David Bowie - Classic reinterpreted for the better

The Middle - Jimmy Eat World - When’s the last time you had this much fun listening to a rock song?

The Rising - Bruce Springsteen - Redemption in a rock song

Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow - Kick-ass summer song

Everyone Says Hi - David Bowie - Bowie as the crooner doing Phil Spector pop

It’s a Groove This Life - Robert Lamm - A delicate pop song about the meaning of life

Hey Ya! - Outkast - Not since “The Middle” have I danced to a more fun song

Heaven - Los Lonely Boys - Great guitar work from a trio of Texas boys

1985 - Bowling for Soup - My high school years summed up in three minutes

Mother India - Caedmon’s Call - Transcends religions to a common, hopeful purpose

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley - Just about the best song I heard all decade

Come to Me, Do - Chicago - Pure fun and pop by a band that hadn’t had fun since 1993

The Island - The Decemberists - Indie/prog rock in a 12-minute opus, incredible

Long Walk Home - Bruce Springsteen - The state of American circa 2007

Sister Lost Soul - Alejandro Escovedo - A song of longing by a fantastic artist

Why So Serious? - The Dark Knight soundtrack by Hans Zimmer - AKA, Joker's Theme - Never has one note sounded so ominous

I’m Alive - Tom Jones - Jones’s mission statement kicks off a wonderful CD

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend - New sound by a unique band

Oh No - Andrew Bird - Dang can this guy whistle; be sure to have a dictionary nearby

Ms. Garvey Ms. Garvey - Roy Hargrove - Splendid bari sax solo

City Noir - John Adams - The sound of modern classical music

Christmas at Sea - Sting - Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem set to a multitude of musical influences

Mrs. Cold - Kings of Convenience - Never has two men and guitars sounded so good

Favorite Albums of the 2000s

I’m a little late in posting all my favorites of the decade so I’ll start the new one looking back on the old one. I’m not calling these CDs “Best” because there are other, more important CDs that were released these separate years. These are my favorites of each year of the first decade of the 21st Century.

For those who want the quick hit, here's the list. I write in more detail following the list.

2000 - David Bowie, Bowie at the Beeb
2001 - Cousteau (self titled)
2002 - Bruce Springsteen, The Rising
2003 - Robert Lamm, Subtlety and Passion
2004 - Garden State
2005 - Caedmon’s Call, Share the Well
2006 - Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
2007 - Bruce Springsteen, Magic
2008 - Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal
2009 - Roy Hargrove, Emergence

-2000-
Bowie at the Beeb - David Bowie

There were some great CDs this year (the debut of Coldplay, the Robert Lamm/Geoff Beckley/Brian Wilson “Like a Brother” project, my personal discovery of saxophonist James Carter) but Bowie’s 2000 concert was a gem. His characteristic trait of reexamining his own catalogue is on full display here. Not only do we get reinterpretations of hits like “Let’s Dance” and “The Man Who Sold the World,” but we get rare tracks (“This is Not America”) thrown in. As much as I love the piano poetry of Mike Garson on “Absolute Beginners,” it’s Bowie’s new take on 1976’s “Always Crashing in the Same Car” that keeps me coming back to this CD again and again.

-2001-

The music that preceded the 9/11 attacks was good but there wasn’t a stand-out huge CD that I liked. Instead, the debut album by Cousteau captured my ears and attention. Lounge-inspired, film-noirish, with deep baritone vocals, Cousteau’s music belonged in the 1950s rather than 2001. But I loved it.

The other major CD in 2001 was Sting’s concert CD, “All This Time.” After two years touring behind 1999’s “Brand New Day,” Sting was to record a concert at his Italian villa on 9 September. The attacks of that day almost cancelled the show (as you can see in the DVD documentary of the rehearsals). The band forged onward albeit with a substantially altered setlist. Starting with a rearranged (see a trend in things I like?) version of “Fragile,” the musicians coped with the terrorist attacks through music. By the last song of the night, some semblance of normalcy had returned and, via the power of music, some order had been restored if for only a few hours.

-2002-

This year saw a flood of music from some of my favorite artists. David Bowie’s “Heathen” is arguably the best thing he had released since 1976’s “Low.” Sheryl Crow’s “C’mon C’mon” is a tightly-written collection of songs that praise good times and summer. Peter Gabriel’s long-awaited CD “Up” finally landed. Coldplay’s sophomore CD, “A Rush of Blood to the Head” proved they were not a one-album wonder. Guitarist John Williams issued his CD recorded in Africa and “his Graceland” contains some of the best guitar music out there.

The 9/11 attacks produced some musical responses as well in 2002 and none was a substantial as Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising.” This was the first E Street Band album since 1988’s “Tunnel of Love” and it was, as is, phenomenal. The title track vaulted into my all-time favorite status, rivaling only “Born to Run” in my book. Redemption has always been a theme of the Boss and it’s here, too. But the songs directly dealing with the tragedy (“Into the Fire,” “Empty Sky,” among others) sear the heart and leave it altered.

-2003-

While I counted Bowie’s “Reality” (to date, his last CD), Chris Botti’s “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” Stephen Delopoulos’s “Me Died Blue,” Jet’s “Get Born,” and Roy Hargrove’s “Hard Groove,” among my favorites, one album clearly stands tall in my book. The irony of my favorite CD of 2003 was that it was the greatest “Chicago” album since Chicago VII. Robert Lamm’s solo CD, “Subtlety and Passion,” was everything a Chicago fan could want and more. With all but two then-current fellow band members playing on the ten-track collection, Lamm basically writes Chicago 7-1/2. Half of the songs would have been major hits in the 1970s but the songs didn’t sound like they belonged in the 70s. A highlight is the use of a Terry Kath guitar solo, recorded before his death in 1978, for a new song in 2003. Lamm perfectly captured the essence of Chicago.

-2004-

Rarely does my Tree of Music grow new branches but it did this year. Here’s what I mean. While I love all sorts of rock and roll, it all boils down for me to my first, favorite band, KISS. I’ve come to enjoy many artists more than KISS but they started it all. Ditto for classical music: I like a lot but my first taste of instrumental music was the Star Wars soundtrack.

Up until 2004, I rarely, if ever, listened to indie music. That changed with the soundtrack to the movie “Garden State.” These thirteen tracks could easily have been called “Indie Music 101.” I learned about The Shins, Remy Zero, Iron and Wine, Zero 7, Colin Hay, and others. This one CD created a huge new branch to my musical enjoyment, one that followed these past five years. If I define the Album of the Decade as one that changed me rather than one that merely contained my favorite songs, this would be it.

-2005-

Interesting year, 2005. Springsteen returned to acoustic songs (“Devils and Dust”), Paul Anka showed that modern rock songs might just be timeless as jazz standards (“Rock Swings”), and Rob Thomas showed that he can create fun pop songs almost in his sleep (“Something to Be”). However, Caedmon’s Call trumps them all with their version of “Graceland.” The Christian band from Houston had traveled the world in 2004, primarily in India and Central America. What they saw there touched them and changed them. The subsequent album is like nothing in their catalogue. Where they were a folk/acoustic band, for this one time, they brought in musicians from the countries they visited. What emerged was an amalgam album, full of hope, joy, pain, and musical abandon.

-2006-

With the release of Chicago’s 30th CD, you might expect me to pick it for favorite of the year. Not even close. As much as I looked forward to Chicago 30, the album didn’t live up my expectations. There were half a dozen albums I liked better. Springsteen’s “The Seeger Sessions,” the debuts of both Amy Winehouse and Rodrigo y Gabriela, Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible,” The Decemberists “The Crane Wife,” and two selections from Elvis Costello, “The River in Reverse” and “My Flame Burns Blue.” What I loved more than any other album was Gnarls Barkley’s “St. Elsewhere.” One could argue that it was the first true album of the decade, bringing together a multitude of styles and influences. The lead single, “Crazy,” just might be my favorite song of the decade. I never tire of hearing this album.

-2007-

Another winner from Springsteen. “Magic” was Springsteen doing what he does best: looking around at the state of the world and reporting on it. While not as consequential as Walter Cronkite, Springsteen’s songs seemed something of a harbinger of what was to come in 2008. “Long Walk Home” summarized all of the Boss’s thoughts about modern America. But he was not averse to releasing a good, old-fashioned rock song with “Radio Nowhere.” And “Girls with the Summer Clothes” proved Springsteen could croon if he had the right song.

Other standouts: Brian Setzer’s “Wolfgang’s Big Night Out”; Springsteen’s “Live in Dublin” (the Seeger Sessions Band); The Shins “Wincing the Night Away”; California Transit Authority “Full Circle” (band created by Chicago’s original drummer, Danny Serephanie); Turtle Island String Quartet “The Legacy of John Coltrane”

-2008-

A fun year for music. Bill Champlin’s “No Place Left to Fall” showed how consummate a musician he really is, Gnarls Barkley released their second CD, “The Odd Couple,” Tom Jones (yes THE Tom Jones) put out an album that was spectacular in its blend of old and new, Coldplay rebounded with “Viva la Vida” after the disappointing “X&Y,” and another odd couple, Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis, recorded a surprisingly fresh CD. Vampire Weekend debuted on the scene with their unique blend of indie and African rhythms (look for the follow-up later this month) and was the freshest thing on the block for awhile. But it was Springsteen that introduced me to my favorite CD of the year, Alejandro Escovedo’s “Real Animal.” The Boss brought out Escovedo for the encore of his April 2008 concert in Houston. Three months later, “Real Animal” was released. Fantastic CD. I’ve written about it twice (here and here) and can’t say anything better.

-2009-

I’ve already written about the music of 2009 here. I made that list before my birthday. The only thing I have to add is a CD I received for my birthday. “Declaration Of Dependence” from Kings of Convenience is a quiet, introspective, yet ravishing CD. I’ve never heard of this band before December 6. Now, I’m out to acquire the rest of the catalog.

There you have it, in more detail than you probably wanted.

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

Don’t blame Robert Downey, Jr., if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle forgot one of the ingredients from which he invented Sherlock Holmes. In Chapter 2 of “A Study in Scarlet,” the first Holmes novel and debut appearance by the great detective, Watson makes a list of Holmes’ attributes. Number eleven is this: “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.” In the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume 3, resident Sherlockian Leslie Klinger notes that there is no instance of Holmes actually displaying his singlestick prowess. Since I haven’t read the entire canon (yet), I had to rely on The Source of All Truth (Wikipedia) to determine that the short story “The Solitary Cyclist” is an example of Holmes the Boxer. Neither Wikipedia nor Klinger’s footnotes indicate an adventure where Holmes uses a sword.

The point is this: The Sherlock Holmes as portrayed by Downey reconstitutes a part of the character Doyle originally intended to write about but seldom did. Since Holmes is one of the world’s first superheroes, it stands to reason that he’d get himself into some situations that require more brawn than brain. What the new film illustrates, however, is that Holmes deploys both in the solving of a crime.

I won’t lie: when I first learned that Downey was going to play Holmes, I was skeptical. I appreciate Downey for the great actor that he is but I didn’t think Holmes was the part for him. Up until Christmas Day, Jeremy Brett is, for my money, is the quintessential on-screen Holmes. Brett still is the quintessential Holmes if you take into account the stories Doyle wrote. However, what Downey captured--with the able assistance of director Guy Ritchie and Jude Law’s Watson--is nothing less that the heart and soul of the Sherlock Holmes character.

Any true iconic character withstands the test of time. Batman went from detective in the 1940s to the guy who fought aliens on alien worlds in the 1950s to the guy who delivered punch lines in the 1960s to a return to his darker roots in the 1970s. James Bond has a similar character arc and, many would argue, it wasn’t until 2006’s “Casino Royale” that the true, literary Bond emerged on the silver screen. I won’t go so far as to say Downey’s Holmes is the true Holmes but he is a reflection of what’s on the page taken to a new level.

Besides, we’ve already been here before. Over the weekend, Turner Classic Movies ran a Holmes-movie marathon, showing many (all?) of the great Basil Rathbone films. As Robert Osbourne pointed out after showing the first two films, the Victorian setting of the traditional Holmes stories was just too quaint while Nazi planes dropped bombs on London. The first film studio, 20th Century Fox, dropped the franchise and Universal picked it up. The first thing Universal did was plop Holmes and Watson in 1940s war time. They fought Nazis! At least Downey had the decency to remain in Victorian England.

With these paragraphs as prelude, on to the film. As you can gather, I consider Downey’s portrayal of Holmes to be excellent. Holmes the Man is a genius. As such, he is cursed by his genius. Downey’s take on how a man like Holmes would live his life is spot-on by modern standards. I’ll admit that seeing Holmes as a dirty person, devoid of basic hygiene, shocked me. I’m used to the meticulous detective (a la Brett’s version of Holmes or television’s Monk) who is so neat and ordered as to be obsessive. However, if you take one of Holmes most famous quotes as truth (“I abhor the dull routine of existence.”), then you can easily see how Holmes would consider bathing to be a bother. Downey’s accent does go in and out but what do you expect from an American doing a Brit. At least it was better than Kevin Costner's Robin Hood. Holmes’s arrogance is on full display as well as his deviousness. In one of the best exchanges, Watson offers a meta-question to Holmes. He asks, basically, with all that Holmes does to him (and here he lists many of the little scenes from various stories), why he, Watson, still remains by Holmes’s side. It’s an honest question for a modern audience, one Watson doesn’t answer in the film.

Watson. If the new film does anything lasting, it showcases that Watson is a capable partner of the great detective. The biggest flaw in the Basil Rathbone films is Nigel Bruce. I hate the way Bruce plays Watson as a fat, bumbler not even having the intellect enough to wash Holmes’s clothes. The man’s a doctor. He has to be smart enough to attend school. Up until Jude Law (happy birthday!) donned the tweed, Jeremy Brett’s first Watson, David Burke, was my sole choice for Watson. Jude Law is now the quintessential Watson. He plays Watson as a man of action, a trait straight from all the stories. Where Holmes thinks, Watson wants to *do something.* In many a story, the only thing for the duo to do is wait, something at which Watson always chaffed.

Not so in this film. Jude Law clearly shows that Watson is a torn man. He’s fallen in love with Mary Morstan (a character from The Sign of the Four) and wants to marry her and have a normal life. He’s also in love with the life of adventure Holmes provides. (And I’m not going into the whole homoerotic thing here. All you need to know about two men who care for each other was taken care of with William Shatner and James Spader in “Boston Legal.”) More than once, Law’s facial expressions show the torment and joy Watson experiences, often simultaneously. Law also shows the smile as Watson removes his coat and prepares for a fight. He makes his choice by the end of the film but, as you know from the stories, he keeps knocking on the door to 221b Baker Street.

The story in the film is chocked full of good old pulp and adventure storytelling devices. Lord Blackwood (played by Mark Strong, a man who resembles the original artist’s interpretation of Holmes from the Strand magazine) is revealed to be the leader of some mystical cult and is hanged. No sooner is he dead than rumors of his resurrection spread. His tomb is empty so it must be true. There's a bit of "Da Vinci Code" in here as well. Ironically, it takes half of the film before someone actually hires Holmes to stop Blackwood. Up until then, he’s been working “for” Irene Adler.

Another character to jump from one of my favorite stories (“A Scandal in Bohemia”), Adler is the only (?) person to beat Holmes at his own game. That Doyle chose to make this character appear in the first ever Holmes short story (and why) is clearly an area for further study. Adler, here, is a twice-divorced thief and former lover of Holmes. I didn’t have a problem with indicating Holmes loved a woman. In the story, he falls in love with Adler’s mind. Here, in the movie, he just included her body as well. I’d have liked to see more Adler, to be honest, but I thoroughly loved the mysterious person for whom she worked. Rachel McAdams did a fine job here and I’m looking forward to future appearances.

Now, I’ll admit that the story in the middle part of the film was quite thin. Yes, it all connects at the end but the whys and wherefores were a little lacking. Suffice it to say, Holmes and Watson do their thing and London is saved...or is it?

Two more points to make. The narrative mystery involves the construction of a Victorian, steampunkish, weapon of mass destruction. Said device uses technology that was brand-new in 1891. That Holmes and Watson could be so clearly perplexed by the new device was stellar. It was something they could not have imagined and, thus, made it an excellent harbinger of the second movie.

If you watched “The Sixth Sense,” you might’ve had the same reaction as I did. Once the twist was revealed, you immediately wanted to watch the film again and see if you could spy the clues. You’ll have the same reaction with “Sherlock Holmes.” As in all good mystery films, the detective has his moment in the spotlight. As TV’s Monk used to say, “Here’s what happened.” When Holmes does this, he reveals all the clues (with visual flashbacks) that led him to the culprit. As soon as he did this, I wanted to watch the movie again and see if the visual clues were present. Can’t wait for the DVD and my pause button.

“Sherlock Holmes” is a terrific film, full of modern action-movie splashes with heaping helpings of witty, tête-à-têtes from Holmes/Watson and Holmes/Adler. As with “Star Trek” earlier this year, I laughed out loud more than I expected. The scenery is rich and detailed and you are reminded of how dirty late Victorian London really was. And the scenes that set up the sequel are splendid. The performances by Downey and Law are nuanced and well-done. They capture the spirit of their literary forebears well and I eagerly await their next film together.

Book Review: The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Tell the truth: if you go see the new Sherlock Holmes movie today and Robert Downey, Jr., appears in only half the film, you’d demand your money back. Am I right? I wonder if the readers in 1915 wanted some of their hard-earned cash back as well.

The Valley of Fear (1915) is the fourth of four Sherlock Holmes novels written by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Valley of Fear was published thirteen years after the third novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and only a year after the completion of the fourth set of short stories, His Last Bow. Instead of setting The Valley of Fear (Valley) in the then present, Doyle told yet another story of the early days of Holmes and Watson.

Like many of the tales, Valley opens with Holmes and Watson mulling over some intellectual problem. Holmes has received a cipher from an informant in Professor Moriarty’s organization. Unfortunately, the informant, Porlock, fears his discovery and has called off the solution to the cipher. Undeterred, Holmes and Watson deduce the book from which the coded message emerges. Once translated, the message is a warning that one Mr. Douglas of Birlstone Manor is in danger of being killed. No sooner does the dynamic duo read the message than MacDonald, from Scotland Yard, arrives at 221B Baker Street. He’d like Holmes’s help with a peculiar problem: a man named Douglas from Birlstone Manor has been killed by a shotgun blast to the face.

Well, how’s that for coincidence? Holmes and Watson accompany MacDonald to Birlstone Manor and then stumble into a traditional British mystery of manners. How else to describe the chapters that follow? Holmes is all but reduced to mere spectator as various members of the household are questioned and cross-examined. Holmes asks a question here and there but, frankly, I forgot he was in certain scenes. Sure, at the end, he blurts out a seemingly esoteric question and you remember why he’s so good but it comes at the end of the sequence.

Needless to say, the truth emerges and all because of Holmes. Like the first Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, Holmes reveals the killer halfway through the novel. Again, like the first book, Valley then throws the reader across to America of the 1870s and we basically get a novella that has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes or the first half of the story. Well, it does have everything to do with the killing of Douglas but it isn’t until the Epilogue--when Holmes returns to center stage of his own book--that we are told how everything fits together. It was rather unsatisfying.

That’s not all I found dissatisfying about Valley. For this fourth novel, Doyle all but ret-conned his Holmes chronology with the inclusion of Professor Moriarty. When it came time for Doyle to kill off Holmes in “The Final Problem,” he invented a nemesis worthy of Holmes. It was in this story, set around 1891, that Watson first learns of the dreaded Napoleon of Crime. If you take “The Final Problem” as gospel, then The Valley of Fear belongs in the apocrypha. The reason is that Valley takes place before “The Final Problem” and Watson is fully aware of Moriarty. It’s almost as if The Valley of Fear takes place in some alternate universe.

Okay, so Moriarty is in the Valley of Fear. Except that he’s not. He makes no appearance at all in the novel. His existence is hinted at by Holmes, explaining that nearly all nefarious activities in London all have their genesis with Moriarty. We even get a fun little story of how Holmes infiltrated the professor’s inner sanctum. Clever, fun, but, in the end, not too important in this novel. Even at the conclusion of the novel, when one of the characters is murdered off-screen, Holmes attributes it to Moriarty’s influence. It’s seems a stretch.

Now, as to the second half of the novel, if you take it alone without the framework of the larger novel, it’s dang good. It tells the story of John McMurdo and how he came to work in the Vermissa Valley in Pennsylvania. It’s a coal-mining town and it’s controlled by the Ancient Order of Freemen. These guys are bad ass. They extort, assault, and murder. They’ve got the town in their grip and no one has the stones to stand up to them. McMurdo has an interesting backstory and he assimilates himself into the gang with ease.

Doyle’s tale-within-a-novel is dark and grim. Valley has been called the first hard-boiled novel (take a look at what Hard Case Crime did with this novel) and with good reason. In one scene, the men who have just killed another victim gather in a bar to celebrate their success. They take turns with the bottle and also take turns mimicking the cries of their victims or widows. I was shopping for Christmas when I heard that passage and my blood got chilled. It’s the utter disregard of human life that was surprising and unsettling. I'd almost go so far as to say there are some serious noir elements in here, too.

I pondered what had happened to the author who brought us fun tales tinged with a dark edge of the 1890s. I remembered that Doyle’s son died in World War I but the novel was published before that. In addition, I thought the war’s atrocities might indicate where this darkness came from but that’s not it either since the publication of the first installment of Valley coincided with the outbreak of hostilities (and, thus, Doyle wrote it before the war started). It makes me want to read a biography of Doyle to find out if there was some personal tragedy that led to the darker material. It also makes me want to read the Holmes tales that were written and published after The Valley of Fear and see if the grim outlook continued.

Now, my stated goal is complete. I have read (or re-read) all four Sherlock Holmes novels in advance of today’s premiere of the new Sherlock Holmes movie. For those who may have missed the earlier reviews, here’s the list and the links. I’ll have my say on the film later next week. And I’ll also recap my thoughts on all four novels in a later post as well.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

4 December - A Study in Scarlet
11 December - The Sign of (the) Four
18 December - The Hound of the Baskervilles
25 December - The Valley of Fear

My favorite Christmas television specials

For anyone out there actually online tonight*, my contribution to BSCReview's "Favorite Holiday Specials" is now up at BSCReview.

*Let's not discuss the fact that I'm *posting* at 6pm on Christmas Eve...

Six-Word Story

Via my Google Alert (yeah, I search for my name*), I just discovered that the six-word story I sent to S. J. Rozan was posted on 9 December. Here's the link. Have to laugh at the title she gave the story.

BTW, this is the year I first read an S. J. Rozan book, The Shanghai Moon. Here's my review. It's a fantastic book, easily one of my three favorites of the year.

*When I leave the "D" out of the search, I get to follow the exploits of "Scott Parker," a soccer player in the UK. Pretty fun to see how good a soccer player "I" am.