Major Holmes & Captain Watson

These days, I’m excited by how many good Sherlock Holmes projects there are. (I’m even more excited if Mycroft’s in them.) Of course, it’s always a dice roll when ordering comics on Kickstarter if you don’t already know the creators or publisher, but I was pleasantly surprised by this comic series, which came out in reasonable time and of good quality.

Major Holmes & Captain Watson is written by Jeff Rider and illustrated by Ismael Canales. It stars the blond Sheffield Holmes, nephew of Sherlock and Mycroft, who’s going on missions in 1914 with Captain Imogen Watson, who we’re told is an American Red Cross worker. Since she’s also heavily armed, she clearly has her own secrets.

“Uncle Mike”, head of the Special Intelligence group, has paired them up in order to make Sheff’s gayness less obvious, since at the time, that was illegal. He’s also sent them to investigate a murder that ties into a global conspiracy, and as the first issue ends, they’ve escaped death a couple of times and are eager, as I am, to find out what’s going on.

Major Holmes & Captain Watson #1

I liked that they’re true partners, with Watson being almost as observant as Holmes is. I like that the cast is diverse. I like that plenty happens in the first issue; the creators aren’t stingy with story. Sheff is a soldier, with a quick temper, but he’s also able to apologize when it runs away with him.

This is distinctly an adventure comic, with lots of action, but there are also deductions and observations, enough to justify the name. There are plenty of references to the past and famous characters, but they’re doing more than just retelling a known story.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Sheffield’s background, and just who his parent is. (Sherrinford? Sigerson? A sister?) And why he refers to his most famous uncle and his friend as “the drug-addled great detective [and] his lapdog biographer”. And what Watson’s story might be. (Which leads off issue #2!)

Issue #1 is available through ComiXology. Issues #1 and 2 are available, in either print or digital, through the Cloudwrangler Comics store. There are also preview pages there.



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