The Irregulars

by Steven-Elliot Altman, Michael Reaves, Bong Dazo (Artist)

A madman stalks the streets of London's Whitechapel slum, leaving a trail of grisly murders in his wake. The police have only one a prominent and respected physician named John Watson! The master detective Sherlock Holmes, in order to solve the most fantastic mystery of his career and save his greatest friend from the gallows, employs a band of young street urchins to infiltrate the alleys of Whitechapel. They can go everywhere, see everything, overhear everyone. They are the Baker Street Irregulars! Join the Irregulars in the most fantastic and terrifying adventure of their lives, as they uncover an evil unlike anything Sherlock Holmes has ever faced!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2005

About the author

Steven-Elliot Altman is a bestselling author, screenwriter, graphic novelist and video game designer. His games include Acclaim's multiple award-winning title 9DRAGONS and Wooga's PEARL'S PERIL. Steve's novels include CAPTAIN AMERICA IS DEAD, ZEN IN THE ART OF SLAYING VAMPIRES, BATMAN: FEAR ITSELF, THE KILLSWITCH REVIEW, THE IRREGULARS and DEPRIVERS. He's also the editor of the critically-acclaimed anthology THE TOUCH and a contributor to SHADOWS OVER BAKER STREET, a Hugo Award Winning anthology of Sherlock Holmes Stories.

Reviews

[Christophe Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel follows the story of the protagonists The Irregulars, who are a bunch of mystery-solving children. It is a tale of mystery and supernatural happenings. Sherlock Holmes plays a minor role in the story compared to his usual role, as the children are out to solve the mystery of numerous murders. This graphic novel of Sherlock Holmes and The Irregulars was quite an interesting read. The novel had a good plot and character development, but I felt that the graphics/illustrations were a bit too messy and crowded. I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I didn't think the novel was that realistic though, in comparison to the regular Sherlock Holmes novels. This novel included a lot of fictional and fantastical ideas and plots. It was nonetheless enjoyable, but I would have liked it better if it had less fictional plots/ideas.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an immensely enjoyable adventure. I was a little surprised when the story took a great turn into the realm of the fantastic, but I was not put off. I only shrugged and thought, "Why not?"
Dazo's art is striking, almost seeming to be animated.

[Lina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a plot about Sherlock Holmes mysteries. A very famous doctor was held accountable for the murder of many people, yet Sherlock Holmes knew he was not guilty. He gathered a group of boys and decided to investigate the case; he calls the group the irregulars. He goes through a lot of horrific things and as always there is a lot of mystery that is resolved by Holmes.

I did not like the graphics of this book; I felt it was very messy and non understandable. It took me a very long time to understand the basic plot of the story. I did not enjoy reading this book as the characters were very unorganised; it was difficult to understand who was speaking and when. The key at beginning of the book was very helpful however as it showed me which character is who.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading mystery and has a strong grasp on comic books. It would be difficult for people that are not good at reading comics as the plot is developed sophisticatedly and the graphics were not helpful. I would also recommend it to teenagers as it is not an easy read; There vocabulary that is used is not easy for middle schoolers and younger.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to like this book more than I do. I love Holmes stories and I think the cast of the Irregulars are interesting. Unfortunately the art isn't very good, and there's problems differentiating many of the characters or always following the action. Plus, the plot is a little scattered and while the new characters are all handled well, some of the classic Holmes characters seem a little out of character. Not bad, but not great.

[HeavyReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bunch of ragamuffin kids help Sherlock Holmes solve his case? Why the hell not? But what's with all of the supernatural shit in this book. Strange and kind of dumb. I didn't dig the art much either. It is all black and white and sometimes I couldn't really tell what was going on in the picture.

Not a favorite book.

[Aisha Mahmoud · Rating 1 out of 5]

Umm no. Just no. This is so wrong on so many levels. It is silly, ridiculous and about as Sherlock Holmes as cats solving mysteries and priests finding bodies in the sacristy. The lack of colour was a first discouragement -- he story after I read it just plain awful! Doyle is rolling and sobbing in his grave that this horror somehow managed to get published!!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little bit odd but enjoyable nonetheless. It verges on steam punk but then goes and makes a slight (ah, heck, full blown) right at supernatural. I liked the way the artist focused the eye through boxes on the whole page drawings. This is a little bit of fun, if you don't mind your canon messed around with.

[BookDrunkard is on storygraph as bookdrunkard78 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I randomly picked this book up at the library after looking for a different graphic novel. It had all the ingredients for something I'd love. There's Sherlock and Watson, a group of children who are clever, all within a London setting. However, I just didn't feel it, if there are any further volumes, I will not be reading them.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of graphic storytelling, and more of a fan of the Sherlock Holmes canon than the average citizen, so this particular bit of pastiche caught my attention. For full review, see http://www.amazon.com/review/R18ZDJCH...

[Steph Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK. Illustrations have heavy lines, so some of the pages with a lot of action are hard to understand and dark. The dialect, though written well, might add a bit to the confusion for teen readers. Because of the illustrating, I actually found the plot a bit of a challenge.

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this. That's really all there is to say about it.

[Tressa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Irregulars was a bit frenetic for me.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel focusing on the Baker Street irregulars. It also features another AC Doyle character, professor challenger. The story is a mix of mystery and gothic horror ,

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tromping about in Conan-Doyle's playground isn't easy- making a distinctive mark on or with his characters is hard. Mixing in Lovecraftian horror is stupid.

[John Somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

14/20.