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Baker Street: Honour Among Punks
Set in London, England in a world where WWII never happened. Baker Street, the center of England's punk movement in a London few would ever know. A life even less would ever see, where being different is the rule, "ratting" the gambling vice of a city's underground, and death is often around the next corner. Here is where mystery, intrigue and suspense are more than a gem to the residents of post Victorian London, it's a way of life.
Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
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About the author
Gary Reed
320 books11 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Gary Reed was a prolific comic book writer and publisher. He was formerly the publisher of Caliber Comics and Vice President of McFarlane Toys.
Also wrote under assumed names (including Brent Truax, Kyle Garrett, Randall Thayer).
Gary Reed was a prolific comic book writer and publisher. He was formerly the publisher of Caliber Comics and Vice President of McFarlane Toys.
Also wrote under assumed names (including Brent Truax, Kyle Garrett, Randall Thayer).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 1, 2016
Collecting all ten issues of the 1989-91 Caliber series Baker Street plus two short stories, Honour Among Punks is set in an alternate London that combines elements of the Victorian era with the punk subculture of the 1980s (and with an alternate version of the first manned moon landing, etc.). The strange premise is beautifully realized by an enthusiastic young Guy Davis, best known today for his work on Sandman Mystery Theatre and B.P.R.D. Himself a punk with tall, spiked red hair back in the day, Davis has a great eye for detail and delivers one of the most authentic depictions of the punk scene I have come across in any medium, neither demonizing nor romanticizing it. The recasting of Sherlock Holmes as a punk lady "of a certain age" is a particularly clever move, as it allows for an investigation of the subculture from the perspective of an experienced, knowledgeable, gender-sensitive insider - and the results are fascinating! Recommended to anybody interested in the history of punk, as well as to fans of Guy Davis!
March 1, 2018
So first of all I don't know why such a big deal is made out of this being an 'alternate London' or whatever because the supposed steampunk setting they were going for is almost completely absent. Now for me this isn't a problem because that's not what sold me on this book, but if that's what you're looking for then you might want to rethink this. Like there are a few times where you see zeppelins flying around and I guess some of the people who aren't punks dress in a more old-timey fashion ...but honestly for the most part it just seemed very 80s punk to me so I'm not sure why there is all the emphasis on a backstory they never really explore.
So, the good: I absolutely loved this as a Sherlock Holmes retelling. I feel like Sharon is an excellent version of Holmes and you can really see a lot of his mannerisms and behaviors in her. The same goes for the Watson character, who in this story is a medical student from America. I really felt like they did a good job taking all the classic things you would except from a Sherlock Holmes story and updating them with the punk scene. Also I just always love classics-retellings where they make the characters queer/women/POC so this was really great in general. This edition contains two different mysteries of 5 issues each and then a little bonus story and some artbook type stuff at the end.
And then the bad: Honestly I would have given this book five stars if not for one thing, and it is unfortunately something that you come across a lot in books from this period or earlier; its treatment of trans characters. This comes in during the second storyline where one of the characters is revealed to be a trans woman. Now I understand that some of the awkwardness of this by today's standards is just because they used different language and terms back then that we would definitely consider offensive today and I honestly do think they were trying to do a decent job with it, but it still definitely falls short and I could definitely see this part ruining the enjoyment of the whole story for a trans reader. I would say that if you're okay with stuff like Silence of the Lambs then you will PROBABLY be okay with this, although this is perhaps a bit more graphic, but I just wanted to say 'proceed with caution' and all that.
So, the good: I absolutely loved this as a Sherlock Holmes retelling. I feel like Sharon is an excellent version of Holmes and you can really see a lot of his mannerisms and behaviors in her. The same goes for the Watson character, who in this story is a medical student from America. I really felt like they did a good job taking all the classic things you would except from a Sherlock Holmes story and updating them with the punk scene. Also I just always love classics-retellings where they make the characters queer/women/POC so this was really great in general. This edition contains two different mysteries of 5 issues each and then a little bonus story and some artbook type stuff at the end.
And then the bad: Honestly I would have given this book five stars if not for one thing, and it is unfortunately something that you come across a lot in books from this period or earlier; its treatment of trans characters. This comes in during the second storyline where one of the characters is revealed to be a trans woman. Now I understand that some of the awkwardness of this by today's standards is just because they used different language and terms back then that we would definitely consider offensive today and I honestly do think they were trying to do a decent job with it, but it still definitely falls short and I could definitely see this part ruining the enjoyment of the whole story for a trans reader. I would say that if you're okay with stuff like Silence of the Lambs then you will PROBABLY be okay with this, although this is perhaps a bit more graphic, but I just wanted to say 'proceed with caution' and all that.
April 3, 2015
This is sort of a period piece, and for the majority of potential readers, may be hard to like because it is set of a niche read. First, you have to like punk and sympathize with the movement, especially the eighties London scene. Second, you have to be into Sherlock Holmes, because punk Sharon is a Sherlock kinda character, and her NON-punk assistant is the Holmes counterpart. You also have to buy (for reasons that are not completely clear to me yet) that this is an alternative history where WWII never happened.
For me, I predate punk but admired many of what some punk musicians tried to accomplish politically and musically (I saw the Clash a couple times, and several punk bands in the late eighties, which does exactly not make me an insider…). I'm not particularly a fan but I understood the cultural and economic rage and the aesthetic scream as well. I don't have a stake in defending or reclaiming the rep of punks by calling attention to its 'honour code", nor do I suspect punks from that period would much care what people think of them, but they might be amused that Davis, a punk himself, cares about their image. I am not sure what I think of the accents he forces on to his Baker Street characters, but it feels kinda tortured; I can't say if they are authentic.
I am a Sherlockian and like many of the different approaches, so this aspect of it was pretty cool, and I thought it was a good strategy to have Sharon's Watson be an outsider, a non-punk. The mysteries in this one I thought worked and were serviceable. I like the references to the Baskervilles and other Sherlockia.
I don't know if the alt-history dimension was all that necessary to anything. Seems like it weighed things down with an idea too much.
I wan't initially attracted to the sketch art, but I can see how it is appropriate to the punk scene, vs. a more polished approach, which would just be wrong. It's not "attractive" but I think the art is accomplished and appropriate, finally.
For me, I predate punk but admired many of what some punk musicians tried to accomplish politically and musically (I saw the Clash a couple times, and several punk bands in the late eighties, which does exactly not make me an insider…). I'm not particularly a fan but I understood the cultural and economic rage and the aesthetic scream as well. I don't have a stake in defending or reclaiming the rep of punks by calling attention to its 'honour code", nor do I suspect punks from that period would much care what people think of them, but they might be amused that Davis, a punk himself, cares about their image. I am not sure what I think of the accents he forces on to his Baker Street characters, but it feels kinda tortured; I can't say if they are authentic.
I am a Sherlockian and like many of the different approaches, so this aspect of it was pretty cool, and I thought it was a good strategy to have Sharon's Watson be an outsider, a non-punk. The mysteries in this one I thought worked and were serviceable. I like the references to the Baskervilles and other Sherlockia.
I don't know if the alt-history dimension was all that necessary to anything. Seems like it weighed things down with an idea too much.
I wan't initially attracted to the sketch art, but I can see how it is appropriate to the punk scene, vs. a more polished approach, which would just be wrong. It's not "attractive" but I think the art is accomplished and appropriate, finally.
May 29, 2017
I was definitely intrigued by the idea of a queer women punk Sherlock Holmes retelling graphic novel set in an alternate steampunk-ish London (whew). Unfortunately, I wasn't really enjoying it at first. The worldbuilding promised by the intro seemed to be mostly missing from the comic itself—this is a world where WWII never happened and WWI only happened to a smaller extent. But the setting of the rival punk gangs' clubs seemed almost timeless, and there were only small moments that made me remember this is supposed to be an alternate 90s London. The tone is dark, messy, and violent—not quite the tidy closed-room puzzle-solving mystery I think I was expecting.
[trigger warning for transmisogyny] When I found out that there is trans representation in this comic, I was immediately more interested. The terminology ("transvestite") and general language used by the main character was cringeworthy, but this was written in the early 90s, so I was giving it a bit of leeway for addressing this at all. Unfortunately, the trans woman character didn't seem to have much of a personality except for being perpetually enraged or annoyed. I was hoping that her character would get more fleshed out later in the book, which I would regret, because she does get more time in the comic: I don't think her portrayal was meant to be malicious--they do discuss her character as being complex, but regardless of intent, this is an awful portrayal. There is a very minor character (she is in one scene and gets a few lines) who is a trans woman and is gentle and kind, but that's not enough to cancel out the main story line.
[trigger warning for transmisogyny] When I found out that there is trans representation in this comic, I was immediately more interested. The terminology ("transvestite") and general language used by the main character was cringeworthy, but this was written in the early 90s, so I was giving it a bit of leeway for addressing this at all. Unfortunately, the trans woman character didn't seem to have much of a personality except for being perpetually enraged or annoyed. I was hoping that her character would get more fleshed out later in the book, which I would regret, because she does get more time in the comic: I don't think her portrayal was meant to be malicious--they do discuss her character as being complex, but regardless of intent, this is an awful portrayal. There is a very minor character (she is in one scene and gets a few lines) who is a trans woman and is gentle and kind, but that's not enough to cancel out the main story line.
April 6, 2016
A rare and beautiful series. It's a shame it only lasted ten issues over two years.
My wife and I first read Honour Among Punks when we were first discovering punk rock and our local punk scene together in 2005. I stumbled upon it at our local library with the simple word search, "punk". Ten years later, we'd lived in two other cities, in which we could not find the book no matter how hard we tried, and upon moving back to the town we called home back when we first found the book, we discovered that it had been listed by the library as "lost". Tragedy.
So, we looked it up online. The least expensive copy we could find was a ninety dollar hardcover. To our surprise, we discovered when it arrived that it was signed by the artist and writer.
It was worth every penny.
Now a decade in to our immersion in the punk and anarchist scenes all over our province and beyond, we appreciate this series even more than we did when we first read it. Of all the portrayals in media of punks scenes and punk culture, this is the closest I've ever seen fiction get to reality. Guy Davis clearly knew and loved the scene, and this is a beautiful homage to it.
Wow.
I really don't want to get any more specific than this, because I hope the book can be enjoyed and discovered as fresh as possible. From what I described above, and from the common listings for the book, anyone should probably be able to tell whether they'll be interested. If you do manage to get your hands on the book, be patient through the art of first two issues. There is a steep curve of increasing quality in the illustration and design of the book. By part two, it's found its stride.
Finally, I feel it can't go without saying that the second arc, the tragedy in five acts, goes some very dark places. I'll end this review with trigger warnings that may spoil some of the story, so be careful about reading past the next line if you feel confident you won't need to read them.
SPOILERS BELOW TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW
TRIGGER WARNINGS - sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, hard drug use, hard drug addiction, fatal intravenous drug overdose, suicide, homophobia, violence against homosexuals, violence against and by transgender persons, mental illness of a transgender person, suicide
I remember ten years ago when a punk friend of ours introduced my wife and I to a movie about punk rock. She told us before it started that it was a tragedy, because, she told us, every punk rock story has a sad ending. Ten years into hanging out in the punk scene and with punks, we've discovered that this is often true in real life as much as in fiction. Within a year of introducing us to that film, our friend found her husband's body after he'd committed suicide.
This time through the book, it hit much harder than it did ten years ago. We've seen a lot of shit, and had our hearts broken many times. There is a lot of beauty in a lot of punk scenes, and this book shows that. But it shows some hard things, too. That it hits the mark so accurately, according to our experiences, is a testimony of the quality of this book's writing and art.
The portrayal of transgender persons in the book is awkward, and character's confusion as to pronoun usage may be problematic for some. However, I found that the clunky and difficult dialogue this created rang true to how I've seen many people struggle, with the best of intentions, to understand and communicate with and about their transgender friends and comrades. Also, (BIGGEST SPOILER OF THIS WHOLE REVIEW IS NEXT, SO DON'T FINISH THE REVIEW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT...) it is unfortunate that the murderer of the final arc is a trans woman. It's too often that queer and transgender characters are either villains or victims in fiction. However, for a book that was written in 1989, it is very progressive and careful, far more so than the mainstream is today in 2015. And this character is no cardboard cutout. She is very well and fully defined, and deeply cared for by the other characters in the book.
My wife and I first read Honour Among Punks when we were first discovering punk rock and our local punk scene together in 2005. I stumbled upon it at our local library with the simple word search, "punk". Ten years later, we'd lived in two other cities, in which we could not find the book no matter how hard we tried, and upon moving back to the town we called home back when we first found the book, we discovered that it had been listed by the library as "lost". Tragedy.
So, we looked it up online. The least expensive copy we could find was a ninety dollar hardcover. To our surprise, we discovered when it arrived that it was signed by the artist and writer.
It was worth every penny.
Now a decade in to our immersion in the punk and anarchist scenes all over our province and beyond, we appreciate this series even more than we did when we first read it. Of all the portrayals in media of punks scenes and punk culture, this is the closest I've ever seen fiction get to reality. Guy Davis clearly knew and loved the scene, and this is a beautiful homage to it.
Wow.
I really don't want to get any more specific than this, because I hope the book can be enjoyed and discovered as fresh as possible. From what I described above, and from the common listings for the book, anyone should probably be able to tell whether they'll be interested. If you do manage to get your hands on the book, be patient through the art of first two issues. There is a steep curve of increasing quality in the illustration and design of the book. By part two, it's found its stride.
Finally, I feel it can't go without saying that the second arc, the tragedy in five acts, goes some very dark places. I'll end this review with trigger warnings that may spoil some of the story, so be careful about reading past the next line if you feel confident you won't need to read them.
SPOILERS BELOW TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW TRIGGER WARNINGS BELOW
TRIGGER WARNINGS - sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, hard drug use, hard drug addiction, fatal intravenous drug overdose, suicide, homophobia, violence against homosexuals, violence against and by transgender persons, mental illness of a transgender person, suicide
I remember ten years ago when a punk friend of ours introduced my wife and I to a movie about punk rock. She told us before it started that it was a tragedy, because, she told us, every punk rock story has a sad ending. Ten years into hanging out in the punk scene and with punks, we've discovered that this is often true in real life as much as in fiction. Within a year of introducing us to that film, our friend found her husband's body after he'd committed suicide.
This time through the book, it hit much harder than it did ten years ago. We've seen a lot of shit, and had our hearts broken many times. There is a lot of beauty in a lot of punk scenes, and this book shows that. But it shows some hard things, too. That it hits the mark so accurately, according to our experiences, is a testimony of the quality of this book's writing and art.
The portrayal of transgender persons in the book is awkward, and character's confusion as to pronoun usage may be problematic for some. However, I found that the clunky and difficult dialogue this created rang true to how I've seen many people struggle, with the best of intentions, to understand and communicate with and about their transgender friends and comrades. Also, (BIGGEST SPOILER OF THIS WHOLE REVIEW IS NEXT, SO DON'T FINISH THE REVIEW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT...) it is unfortunate that the murderer of the final arc is a trans woman. It's too often that queer and transgender characters are either villains or victims in fiction. However, for a book that was written in 1989, it is very progressive and careful, far more so than the mainstream is today in 2015. And this character is no cardboard cutout. She is very well and fully defined, and deeply cared for by the other characters in the book.
May 10, 2011
I found a stack of comics at our old practice space and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a couple Baker Street graphic novels. Baker Street was published by Caliber Press, who also published The Crow. Like Mudhoney/Tad/Soundgarden with Sub Pop, I checked out other Caliber Press books and Baker Street was one of them.
One of the better ones, too. I don’t know about all the “honour among punks” or the punk gangs themselves but these were good stories. The action centers around Sue, foreign exchange student from the states and Sharon, former C.I.D. investigator turned punk Sherlock Holmes. And all their nutty friends. And enemies. And the story takes place in some kind of alternate reality. But none of that really matters, in effect, because it’s Davis and Reed’s ability to write realistic, interesting, complex characters that really made this book. I’m not a huge fan of Davis’ art but he conveys action and emotion well. And he’s good at drawing all that cute punk rock gear.
Looking forward to reading Children Of The Night and happy/nostalgic to have revisited this little piece of my past.
One of the better ones, too. I don’t know about all the “honour among punks” or the punk gangs themselves but these were good stories. The action centers around Sue, foreign exchange student from the states and Sharon, former C.I.D. investigator turned punk Sherlock Holmes. And all their nutty friends. And enemies. And the story takes place in some kind of alternate reality. But none of that really matters, in effect, because it’s Davis and Reed’s ability to write realistic, interesting, complex characters that really made this book. I’m not a huge fan of Davis’ art but he conveys action and emotion well. And he’s good at drawing all that cute punk rock gear.
Looking forward to reading Children Of The Night and happy/nostalgic to have revisited this little piece of my past.
July 3, 2007
you got your sherlock holmes in my 1970s punk underground!
but you got your 1970s punk underground in my sherlock holmes!
piss off ya wankers, you both got your shite in my steampunk!
talk about great tastes that go great together.
but you got your 1970s punk underground in my sherlock holmes!
piss off ya wankers, you both got your shite in my steampunk!
talk about great tastes that go great together.
February 2, 2018
Something I remembered seeing at my library at least a decade or more ago that I never got around to reading until it was very difficult to find (I think it's no longer in publication so it had to be special ordered by my local comic book shop). Alternate history where WWII never happened and London is still in a quasi-Victorian dress...but also with the Punk movement of the 80s. And in this backdrop, we have a female Sherlock Holmes as a former police detective turned punk and private investigator, an American (and also female) John Watson, medical student. Pretty clever interpretation of Doyle's character. I've not read more than 2 Sherlock short stories, but from my experience with his TV and movie adaptations, it seems they've combined a number of stories and referenced others in an intriguing way. And it's co-written and illustrated by Guy Davis, whom I mainly know as the illustrator for the first 70? BPRD comics. One of my favorite comics artists, you can see his style evolve over the course of the book and go from more conventional, cartoony Terry Moore-esque character designs to his more geometric, chunky masculine faces and bodies.
January 20, 2021
DNF. ~20%. I'm a firm believer in if you're reading something that is supposed to entertain you and it doesn't, you are not obligated to finish it. The animal abuse featured made me want to quit on the spot, but I tried to carry on. It was all over the place plot-wise, illustration-wise, and textbox-wise. It just got so petty and unbelievable and annoying that I pulled the plug.
Read
September 28, 2016A Sherlock Holmes riff set in an alternate neo-Victorian 20th century (yes, there are zeppelins, but no, it's not st**mp*nk) in which the great detective is queer punk Sharon Ford, the medical sidekick is sheltered American student Susan Prendergast, and the Ripper targets rapists instead of sex workers. Guy Davis' art evolves visibly from chapter to chapter, starting out fairly generic but eventually settling into the weird, cluttered yet somehow spellbinding stuff I'd see on posters for Baker Street when I was first getting into comics, yet have only got around to following up now. The script never entirely gets the hang of British English (or indeed, of English full stop - this is why proofreaders are a good idea) and no effort is made to explain why the world has stalled in quite the ways it has while still being able to put a man on the Moon, yet somehow the London we see makes all the sense it needs to (at least, until the subplot regarding the elections to the House of Lords which, no, not even in this timeline). And while nowadays trans supporting characters are an easy badge of inclusivity in comics, it's still remarkable finding one in a book from 1990, with an attendant conversation about pronouns that would have been all the more necessary then. Read in 2016, I wouldn't call this a classic, but I can definitely see why it had its cult back at a time when stuff like this was so much rarer.
October 13, 2016
Rereading this & its companion volume due to the recent unfortunate passing of Gary Reed, its cocreator. Exemplary Sherlock pastiche with more punk than steampunk influence in its alt-history & highly recommended for mystery fans, LGBTQ readers, or those who just love great world building in cracking good stories.
April 8, 2011
Amazing. The kind of book that makes you sad the characters aren't real.
June 29, 2019
Honour Among Punks is a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes pastiche set in the London punk scene of the 1980's. To make it more Holmes-ish, it is also a world where respectable English society never moved on from Victorianism. It would have been very interesting if the hows and whys of this world had been explored, but it just exists as an unexamined background element. The main character is a former CID Inspector who was dismissed for exposing police corruption and then went punk and solves crimes as a hobby.
I am a fan of Guy Davis' art. His runs on Sandman Mystery Theater and The Marquis are among my favorites. His work is detailed, gritty, and not afraid to be ugly when the situation calls for it. Unfortunately I did not care for this story.
The biggest failing of the story requires some spoilers, so spoilers follow.
One of the main characters is revealed to be trans and the story proceeds to hit every cliched negative trans trope from immediate pronoun confusion to the psychologically unstable trans woman. Eventually the trans character is revealed to be a serial killer who targets men. I am not a reviewer who insists all trans portrayals be positive, but the trans = monster trope is a tired thriller cliche.
I am a fan of Guy Davis' art. His runs on Sandman Mystery Theater and The Marquis are among my favorites. His work is detailed, gritty, and not afraid to be ugly when the situation calls for it. Unfortunately I did not care for this story.
The biggest failing of the story requires some spoilers, so spoilers follow.
One of the main characters is revealed to be trans and the story proceeds to hit every cliched negative trans trope from immediate pronoun confusion to the psychologically unstable trans woman. Eventually the trans character is revealed to be a serial killer who targets men. I am not a reviewer who insists all trans portrayals be positive, but the trans = monster trope is a tired thriller cliche.
July 18, 2017
One of the few graphic novels that I have in my collection. Too many books, too many interests, so the bookcase is a curated selection. I enjoy re-reading this from time to time. I was around during the punk scene (mine was New Wave) and I think the alternative version of Sherlock Homes is a good one.
August 30, 2023
liked the art but not much else worked for me
December 30, 2013
Guy Davis has probably contributed more to the Mignolaverse than he will ever be recognized for. He drew the Hellboy spinoff series, B.P.R.D., from 2003 through 2011, and his monster and character designs are how most readers will remember them. Long before he joined the B.P.R.D., however, Davis wrote and illustrated the BAKER STREET series for Caliber comics.
The series ran for ten issues, from 1989 to 1991, and was a Sherlock Holmes-inspired story set in an alternate London in which World War II never happened and Victorian sensibilities persisted into the late 20th Century. At the center is Sharon Ford, a punk detective who solves crimes in the punk underworld, along with her sidekicks Sam and Sue, the latter of which fills in for Watson in these stories.
The series is divided into two discrete story arcs, which were collected into two trade paperbacks by Caliber, which ceased publishing in 2000. The whole run was later collected into “complete” editions by iBooks and Milk and Cookies Press, but the original Caliber trades, Honour Among Punks and Children of the Night, seem to be much easier to acquire in the used marketplace on Amazon. (I found used copies of both at Powell’s in Portland, Ore.)
In the first arc, Honour Among Punks, Sharon and Sue are on the trail of an art forger who is stirring up trouble in London. Meanwhile, tensions are high in the punk underground, and a mysterious ripper-like killer is stalking the streets. In the second arc, the identity and sad conclusion of the ripper is revealed. For the first arc, Davis and Caliber-founder Gary Reed wrote the story together, while Davis provided pencils with inking assists by Vince Locke and Alan Oldham. The style ends up being a weird amalgamation of proto-Davis figures and Archie-like expressions.
By the second arc, Davis has taken over full writing, penciling and inking duties, and the beginnings of the style many fans would come to love can be seen. You can almost watch as his confidence improves from page to page. The second arc also flows a bit better, and the consequences of the case are far more dire. CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT not only creates a deeper emotional connection with the reader, but also addresses issues of classism and gender identity that ring perhaps even more true in 2013 than they did in 1991. The appearance of the punks in Baker Street might seem a little dated, but their ethos and attitudes couldn’t be more relevant. CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT would be the last Baker Street story, and it’s a shame it ends on such a sad tone, but I suppose it’s fitting.
Guy Davis is a personal favorite of mine, and since his departure from B.P.R.D. there has been precious little comics output from him. He is reportedly working on a follow-up to his demon-hunting opus THE MARQUIS, and he spent a good deal of time helping Guillermo Del Toro design monsters for the film PACIFIC RIM. (Some of his sketches can be seen in the special features that come with that film.) But while I hope for Davis’ return to comics, it’s fun to go back and find the series he worked on before I knew him. Now to track down more SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE trades.
(Originally published at ComicBookDaily.)
The series ran for ten issues, from 1989 to 1991, and was a Sherlock Holmes-inspired story set in an alternate London in which World War II never happened and Victorian sensibilities persisted into the late 20th Century. At the center is Sharon Ford, a punk detective who solves crimes in the punk underworld, along with her sidekicks Sam and Sue, the latter of which fills in for Watson in these stories.
The series is divided into two discrete story arcs, which were collected into two trade paperbacks by Caliber, which ceased publishing in 2000. The whole run was later collected into “complete” editions by iBooks and Milk and Cookies Press, but the original Caliber trades, Honour Among Punks and Children of the Night, seem to be much easier to acquire in the used marketplace on Amazon. (I found used copies of both at Powell’s in Portland, Ore.)
In the first arc, Honour Among Punks, Sharon and Sue are on the trail of an art forger who is stirring up trouble in London. Meanwhile, tensions are high in the punk underground, and a mysterious ripper-like killer is stalking the streets. In the second arc, the identity and sad conclusion of the ripper is revealed. For the first arc, Davis and Caliber-founder Gary Reed wrote the story together, while Davis provided pencils with inking assists by Vince Locke and Alan Oldham. The style ends up being a weird amalgamation of proto-Davis figures and Archie-like expressions.
By the second arc, Davis has taken over full writing, penciling and inking duties, and the beginnings of the style many fans would come to love can be seen. You can almost watch as his confidence improves from page to page. The second arc also flows a bit better, and the consequences of the case are far more dire. CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT not only creates a deeper emotional connection with the reader, but also addresses issues of classism and gender identity that ring perhaps even more true in 2013 than they did in 1991. The appearance of the punks in Baker Street might seem a little dated, but their ethos and attitudes couldn’t be more relevant. CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT would be the last Baker Street story, and it’s a shame it ends on such a sad tone, but I suppose it’s fitting.
Guy Davis is a personal favorite of mine, and since his departure from B.P.R.D. there has been precious little comics output from him. He is reportedly working on a follow-up to his demon-hunting opus THE MARQUIS, and he spent a good deal of time helping Guillermo Del Toro design monsters for the film PACIFIC RIM. (Some of his sketches can be seen in the special features that come with that film.) But while I hope for Davis’ return to comics, it’s fun to go back and find the series he worked on before I knew him. Now to track down more SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE trades.
(Originally published at ComicBookDaily.)
February 27, 2013
When I was younger and dumber, this was a more riveting read. Now that I'm older and slightly less dumb, it's not so great.
As seems to happen with Guy Davis, there's a great idea here with excellent art, but the whole thing just kind of lies flat. And I'm not even going to go into his badly-planned accent-writing, which may be some of the worst since Dick Van Dyke offended Britons in Mary Poppins.
If there's any absolute reason to read this book, it's to see the dramatic realisation of an artist's style. The first 'act' of the story, I think we'd be hard-pressed to recognise the art to even be from Guy Davis; it looks more like Evan Dorkin's Pirate Corps than it does Davis' distinctively scratchy style. By the end of this book, however, everything that constitues his style since then is there, and the look of the pages are vastly improved for it. I'd like to believe this was a conscious choice, suggesting American student Sue's incorporation into the 'real' London away from the one she'd idealised upon arrival...but I don't think that's the case.
The world Davis created here is lush and ingenious, so it's really a shame it's so hampered by weak characterisation and near-parodic dialogue. Fun story, though. Holmes scholars might get a kick out of this. Punks might be amused. Comics fans at large may just be intrigued enough to stick around for book two.
This volume couldn't be much more complete. It includes the five-issue Caliber mini-series, a 'London Daily Chronicle' newspaper that had been intended as a recap of the first issue's story when the issues came out (it's a fun read, if only for the Hitler obituary; it's a thorough telling of revisionist history as Davis has concocted it, though why this Hitler would rate a front-page obit is another mystery), advertising and in-house spot art, images from Amazing Heroes swimsuit issues, and two more complete stories: 'Elementary, My Dear' from Caliber Presents #9 and 'A Case of the Blues' from Caliber Christmas. There's also a full-page reproduction of a commissioned picture of Sharon's housemate and friend, Sam. (Why do all three of the main characters' names start with an 's,' anyway? Is it an intentional reference to Sherlock? Or just a coincidence?)
As seems to happen with Guy Davis, there's a great idea here with excellent art, but the whole thing just kind of lies flat. And I'm not even going to go into his badly-planned accent-writing, which may be some of the worst since Dick Van Dyke offended Britons in Mary Poppins.
If there's any absolute reason to read this book, it's to see the dramatic realisation of an artist's style. The first 'act' of the story, I think we'd be hard-pressed to recognise the art to even be from Guy Davis; it looks more like Evan Dorkin's Pirate Corps than it does Davis' distinctively scratchy style. By the end of this book, however, everything that constitues his style since then is there, and the look of the pages are vastly improved for it. I'd like to believe this was a conscious choice, suggesting American student Sue's incorporation into the 'real' London away from the one she'd idealised upon arrival...but I don't think that's the case.
The world Davis created here is lush and ingenious, so it's really a shame it's so hampered by weak characterisation and near-parodic dialogue. Fun story, though. Holmes scholars might get a kick out of this. Punks might be amused. Comics fans at large may just be intrigued enough to stick around for book two.
This volume couldn't be much more complete. It includes the five-issue Caliber mini-series, a 'London Daily Chronicle' newspaper that had been intended as a recap of the first issue's story when the issues came out (it's a fun read, if only for the Hitler obituary; it's a thorough telling of revisionist history as Davis has concocted it, though why this Hitler would rate a front-page obit is another mystery), advertising and in-house spot art, images from Amazing Heroes swimsuit issues, and two more complete stories: 'Elementary, My Dear' from Caliber Presents #9 and 'A Case of the Blues' from Caliber Christmas. There's also a full-page reproduction of a commissioned picture of Sharon's housemate and friend, Sam. (Why do all three of the main characters' names start with an 's,' anyway? Is it an intentional reference to Sherlock? Or just a coincidence?)
March 28, 2013
An alternate history (Victorian London meets 1980s Punk) comic book about a female version of Sherlock Holmes (named Sharon Ford - get it?). That brief description hits about 5 different "I must read this book" check boxes for me. In the end, I think I liked the concept more than the execution but it is OK. There are two main stories in this complete collection. The first is a bit messy and difficult to follow. The art isn't clear enough for distinguishing a rather large cast of supporting characters and the plot a bit too convoluted for the space allowed it, making it feel rushed. The second story is better if more derivative (playing off Jack the Ripper is a bit overdone in Sherlock pastiches). It is clearer, more interesting, and has much more of an emotional payoff in connection with the main characters. The main stories end on something of an ambiguous note with the feel of something intended to be part of an ongoing series that didn't keep going. There are a few filler fluff stories in the back that don't amount to much. Overall, it is an interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes idea and does some things with the original canon I've not seen elsewhere, but would, I think, be a very difficult read for those not well-versed in reading comics and in Sherlock Holmes.
July 13, 2013
I heard about this book recently and was raring to read it. Though I can still appreciate the idea and sentiments behind it, sadly this really wasn't my cup of tea. I don't feel particularly qualified to critique artwork, but I think I can understand that there is considerable talent behind the illustrations. However, the chosen style often makes grasping what exactly you're looking at very difficult. I'm not sure if this was a conscious choice, some kind of effort to visually underline the dark, grimy corners of punk society and storytelling. But as the mind struggles to process the visual information, following the finer points of the plot becomes more difficult. Adding to that the similar physicality/ornamentation of members within various punk factions, you get a lot of paging back and forth to try and figure out what you missed when. After putting in this extra effort to keep up, the wide open conclusion at the end of all of this is a major let down. So not bad per se, but not as gripping as I'd been lead to believe.
December 18, 2013
A pesar de un punto de partida muy interesante (Sherlock Holmes en versión femenina e insertada en la movida punk de una Inglaterra ficticia que mantiene intactos los valores victorianos en pleno siglo XX), Honor entre punks desaprovecha todas las oportunidades que tiene para molar de verdad. Los enfrentamientos entre las diversas bandas callejeras son absurdos, el ambiente punk se trata de forma superficial, y sobre la ucronía mencionada entre paréntesis no se da apenas contexto, así que lo único que queda son las decentes investigaciones criminales y el buen hacer de Guy Davis (quien posteriormente refinaría su dibujo en la muy notable Sandman Mystery Theatre) a los lápices y la tinta.
El primer volumen, escrito por Gary Reed, apenas funciona, siendo el misterio artificialmente enrevesado y los diálogos poco naturales. En el segundo, Davis añade a su labor de dibujo la de guionista, logrando desarrollar mejor al trío protagonista y tratando con cierta fortuna temas como la homosexualidad y transfobia, aunque sin compensar del todo la primera mitad del libro.
El primer volumen, escrito por Gary Reed, apenas funciona, siendo el misterio artificialmente enrevesado y los diálogos poco naturales. En el segundo, Davis añade a su labor de dibujo la de guionista, logrando desarrollar mejor al trío protagonista y tratando con cierta fortuna temas como la homosexualidad y transfobia, aunque sin compensar del todo la primera mitad del libro.
October 11, 2010
Sherlock Holmes operating in the punk scene of a semi-steampunk/modern London? Should be too nuts to be good, huh?
Well, for the first half, it kind of is. The plot's messy, and characters don't get decent interactions. But the second plot picks up, delivering a nice riff on Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Moriarty, and so much else. I wish the series had gone on, delivering on its promised pseudo-Moriarty subplot...but it wasn't to be.
There are a couple stories in back, too, with the one of Sandra (the Holmesian character) meeting a man with a tweed jacket who proves to be...more interesting than she bargained for, which is fun. And the second, with the Watson homage stuck in bed on Christmas Eve, is just a nice, heartwarming thing.
Worth a read, especially for fans of Guy Davis.
Well, for the first half, it kind of is. The plot's messy, and characters don't get decent interactions. But the second plot picks up, delivering a nice riff on Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Moriarty, and so much else. I wish the series had gone on, delivering on its promised pseudo-Moriarty subplot...but it wasn't to be.
There are a couple stories in back, too, with the one of Sandra (the Holmesian character) meeting a man with a tweed jacket who proves to be...more interesting than she bargained for, which is fun. And the second, with the Watson homage stuck in bed on Christmas Eve, is just a nice, heartwarming thing.
Worth a read, especially for fans of Guy Davis.
April 24, 2016
Interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes mythology through an uchronian punk background. Having read a few issues a score of years ago I have assumed for years Guy Davis was british! Now I know better and have had the pleasure to read the whole series, even though it ends cliffhanger-like. It clearly was a labor of love which we sadly know rarely pays up the bills... Two very cool arcs with great characters, Sam being the best of them all.
Apart from his knowledge of the punk scene, I've been impressed by how fast and early Davis developped the style he's known for. Storytelling, moods, settings, everything is already here. It just got even better with time.
Apart from his knowledge of the punk scene, I've been impressed by how fast and early Davis developped the style he's known for. Storytelling, moods, settings, everything is already here. It just got even better with time.
June 4, 2013
The back blurb had me at "one part Goth, one part punk, and one part Conan Doyle." With an advertisement like that, how could I pass it up? It's not a direct adaptation of the original Canon (or even a strictly gender-swapped adaptation), but there are nice homages throughout that fans will recognize. The stories are interesting, and also bring up gender and class issues that make the reader think. I loved this book, and wish there was more of it to read.
September 28, 2012
A punk retelling of Sherlock Holmes set in an alternate-future England. Interesting, though the world-building wasn't always very clear. Great look at the early artwork of Guy Davis. Regrettably, the iBook edition features poor print reproduction: the library copy I read was badly faded in spots, damaging the artwork and making some pages hard to read.
July 9, 2007
I have an older edition of this. I HEART this book. Perhaps it has to do with my love of Sherlock Holmes and my vast enjoyment of murder mysteries set in the UK. Or perhaps I'm in love with Sam. I re-read this ever so often, and enjoy it every time.
August 25, 2016
¿Un Sherlock Holmes mujer? ¿Y punk? Sí, y mucho más. Protagonistas femeninas, personajes de géneros no binarios, personajes con historias y personalidades complejas. Y un dibujo impresionante.
Una puñetera obra maestra.
Una puñetera obra maestra.
August 3, 2007
Complete book of comics collected in one place. A combo of punks and Sherlock Holmes in London. Great read!
July 2, 2008
also an awesome old school comic. i would have made the wussiest punk ever.
September 7, 2008
sherlock Holmes meets punk
July 16, 2010
Dammit my copy only has like 1/3 of the stories DAMMIT. Too good to leave me in the middle like that. Sherlock as a punk woman, I mean come on. It's amazing.
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