The Hound of the Baskervilles Review: Faithful

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes” stories helped create the mystery genre that is still going strong today. His most famous story was “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” first serialized in 1901. Martin Powell and Jamie Chase’s comic adaptation is a respectable one.

As with the original novel, Holmes asks Dr. Watson to investigate the Baskerville estate when Sir. Charles Baskerville’s nephew, Sir Henry, asks Holmes to investigate a family curse that killed his uncle. What Dr. Watson finds is a family squabble on top of the curse.

Adapting a “Sherlock Holmes” story into a comic is no easy task, seeing as all of them are written as journal entries that are nothing more than Dr. Watson’s observations. Powell has managed to smoothly translate this novel into comic format. It keeps the original tone of Doyle’s novel which will make plenty fans happy.

The story itself may not please many modern readers due to the fact that “Sherlock Holmes” is the original mystery story and they do tend to cater to their time. If you can look past this you will find why this story has lasted for more than 100 years.

Powell has also managed to place some of Dr. Watson’s journal entries into the comic in his “own handwriting.” This gives a sense of authenticity to the work and keeps the comic attached to its roots. The problem with these writings is that, since they are handwritten, they are a little hard to read. This takes away some of Dr. Watson’s thoughts and robs the readers a crucial part of the experience.

The art style Chase chose for this comic is in the vain of Sidney Paget’s original “Sherlock Holmes” illustrations. This is a wise choice in that it seems like this is the perfect style to draw Holmes’ stories. Seeing this style in comic form is a pleasure. Chase has managed to do Paget proud.

“The Hound of the Baskervilles” is a faithful adaption of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous novel featuring art that is similar to Paget’s. Modern readers may need a little push to get to like this story, but fans will really enjoy this adaptation more than anyone.