The Ripper case reaches its conclusion with, ironically, a higher body count than the real life version. In the aftermath, there’s corruption at the Yard, which puts Bonde and Sherlock on a collision course. And, of all the questions this story could ask, ‘how do you like them apples’ isn’t one that was even on my radar.
I don’t know of a manga series currently publishing that I run as hot and cold on as this one, where any given volume might be really good or really mediocre or somewhere in between or above or below.
On the plus side, I do think that the version of James Bonde we get in this story is a hoot, doubly so since he’s still a womanizer despite formerly being a female (well, he didn’t precisely transition, it’s complicated, though the story doesn’t care so you shouldn’t either). I’m here for that Bonde and Moniepenny relationship.
If anything lands exactly right in this one, it’s watching Bonde harass poor Que, which is basically straight out of any Bond movie ever made and almost as funny. At the rate Que keeps developing anachronisms, however, Bonde will have a jet pack by series end.
This version of Sherlock has similarly turned out to be a lot of fun and it’s interesting to see the Great Detective forced into using his skills in ways he’d rather not. I especially liked his own observation that a detective, by default, starts on the back foot, so pulling ahead of Moriarty is nigh impossible.
The Ripper case winds down with the usual burst of violence that lets the series re-emphasize that the methods our boys are using might be brutal, but they have a standard they adhere to when it comes to protecting the lower classes. I will say, I’m pretty sure they get the body count wrong for the historic Ripper, which was kind of surprising.
It’s a good denouement, if unspectacular, which is this volume in a nutshell. The next story is about corruption and brings Bonde and Sherlock both into the picture and, minus that rather amusing mash-up, isn’t especially interesting.
The MacGuffin in this one feels like it gets conjured into existence by the character’s discussing what would simply have to be the case, which I kind of dispute, rather than anything especially logical or factual. It just feels weird narratively.
And with the action taking place in a locked down Scotland Yard, you’d think Bonde would be a lot more interesting than his boring plan to get inside, which doesn’t make a lick of sense given how tight we’re told the security is. It’s not the most well plotted caper.
Anyhoo, the last chapter is a quiet conversation between Sherlock and Moriarty Prime, which would be an excellent bit of calm if the series did not decide that this was the exact moment it needed to jump the shark.
Oh, there’s a mathematics exam that Sherlock sits in on and one of the questions is impossible. But not for one student, except it’s not a student, no, it couldn’t be the lowly Bill Hunting, could it?
I think my jaw dislocated and I had to retrieve my eyes from across the room at that one. The Bond and Sherlock cross mingling was one thing, but why in the fourteen flavours of hell would you feel the need to bother bringing Good Will Hunting into this?
There seems to be absolutely no reason for this addition and it’s not like that movie is some cultural touchstone that needed to be integrated here. If you don’t recognize the reference it’s innocuous, if entirely predictable (a mystery with one suspect is not much of a mystery), but if you do, it’s utterly jarring.
Maybe next time the actual Fonzie will just show up, or Que will invent the One Ring, just for the hell of it. Or they could reinforce Moran’s skeleton with adamantium! Que, are you telling me you built a time machine out of an auto-carriage!? I mean, it just writes itself at that point.
Obviously it doesn’t wreck the whole thing, but now and then you get a plot device that just rubs you the wrong way and, given how little it has to do with anything, that one just threw off my entire appraisal of the volume. And minus that annoyance, the back and forth between the two leads is very choice. It’s a real fly in the soup moment if there ever was one.
3 stars - sometimes we get Professor Moriarty, sometimes we get Professor Mediocrity, and this time around we’re leaning far more towards the latter. Fun at times, irritating at others, definitely a lesser instalment for me.