{"id":28483,"date":"2023-08-18T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T08:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28483"},"modified":"2023-08-16T17:47:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T17:47:29","slug":"the-baker-street-peculiars-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/08\/18\/the-baker-street-peculiars-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Baker Street Peculiars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Roger Langridge<\/strong>, Andrew Hirsh<\/strong> & Fred Stresing<\/strong> (KaBOOM!)
\nISBN: 978-1-60886-928-2 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-61398-599-1<\/p>\n

Roger Langridge is a very talented gentleman with a uniquely beguiling way of telling stories. He has mastered every aspect of the comics profession from lettering (Dr. Who<\/strong>) to writing (Thor: The Mighty Avenger<\/strong>) to illustration (Knuckles the Malevolent Nun<\/strong>, Zoot!<\/strong>). When combining his gifts – as Fred the Clown<\/strong>, Popeye<\/strong>, Abigail and the Snowman<\/strong> – the approbation, accolades and glittering prizes such as Eisner and Harvey Awards can\u2019t come fast enough.<\/p>\n

He is also a bloody genius at making folk laugh\u2026<\/p>\n

The Baker Street Peculiars <\/strong>started life as an all-ages comicbook miniseries before being gathered in a titanic detective tome and craftily references a glittering reservoir of cool concepts encompassing the mythology of Sherlock Holmes<\/strong>, 1930s London, cosy crime mysteries, kid gangs and rampaging monster movies. Moreover, thanks to Langridge\u2019s keen ear for idiom and slang, every page resonates with hilarious dialogue any lover of old films or British sitcoms will find themselves helplessly chortling over – if not actually joining in with\u2026<\/p>\n

Blimey, Guv\u2019ner!<\/p>\n

Illustrated by Andy Hirsch (Science Comics: Dogs<\/strong>, Varmints<\/strong>, Adventure Time<\/strong>, Regular Show<\/strong>) and coloured by the inestimable Fred Stresing, \u2018The Case of the Cockney Golem\u2019 <\/em>opens in foggy old London Town circa 1933, currently enduring an odd spot of bother. Exceedingly odd\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018A Beast in Baker Street\u2019 <\/em>reveals that famous landmark statues are going missing. Now, with one of the bronze lions in Trafalgar Square coming to life and bolting away down Charing Cross Road – unlike the crowds rushing about in panic – three wayward tykes (and a dog) chase after it. Soon they are all embroiled in the story of a lifetime\u2026 perhaps several lifetimes\u2026<\/p>\n

Tailor\u2019s granddaughter Molly Rosenberg<\/em>, orphan street thief Rajani Malakar<\/em> and neglected filthy rich posh-boy Humphrey Fforbes-Davenport<\/em> (and his canine valet Wellington<\/em>) are all out long after bedtime and keen on a spot of adventure. Having individually chanced upon the commotion, they spontaneously unite to doggedly track the animated absconder to Baker Street where they enjoy a chance encounter with a legendary investigator\u2026<\/p>\n

Molly is especially intrigued: she\u2019s read every exploit of the famous consulting detective. When he roundly rubbishes their claim of moving statues – and claims to be too busy with other cases – she angrily suggests that they act as his assistants. The detective quite quickly complies, but only to conceal an incredible secret not even his fanciful new deputies could ever imagine\u2026<\/p>\n

As Molly\u2019s grandpa suffers another visit from thugs running an extortion racket for the nefarious Chippy Kipper<\/em> – \u201cthe Pearly King of Brick Lane\u201d – the kids\u2019 bizarre quest continues in \u2018The Lion, the Lord and the Landlady\u2019 <\/em>after the junior sleuths meet up at 221B Baker Street. Although consoled with a fine meal, they are disappointed to find their hoped-for mentor absent.<\/p>\n

Receiving further instructions from the great detective\u2019s elderly cook Mrs. Hudson<\/em>, the youthful team learn that Mr Holmes believes the statues are simply being stolen and that he wishes the dauntless children to post guard on Boadicea at Westminster Bridge and Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square\u2026<\/p>\n

Their sentinel duties bear strange fruit, however, as East End thugs perform a strange and dangerous ritual and the beloved tourist attractions come to menacing life. As the kids follow the ambulatory landmarks back to Kipper\u2019s hideout, Molly strives to recall a story her grandfather used to tell her: a fable about a Rabbi in old Prague who used a scroll to bring a giant avenging clay statue to life\u2026<\/p>\n

As the colossal Chippy shares his own unique origins with his cohort of thugs and sculptures, the youngsters sneak in. Swifty captured and stuck in a dungeon, they can only watch in horror as Kipper uses ancient magic to make a new kind of monster. \u2018The Old, Hard Cell\u2019 <\/em>brings the plot to a bubbling boil as the terrified tykes swallow simmering resentments and work together. Even as they escape their current predicament, elsewhere, other, more mature truth-seekers are compelled to change their stubbornly-held opinions\u2026<\/p>\n

Someone else with a keen eye and suspicious mind is enterprising lady journalist Hetty Jones<\/em> of The Mirror<\/strong>. Her own patient, diligent enquiries have brought her to Baker Street in time to collaborate with the aged detective-in-charge. With all eventualities except the impossible exhausted, the grown-ups must accept the truth and soon track down the missing lion. It\u2019s probably too late, however, as an army of animated marble and bronze artefacts rampage through London towards the East End, with only three nippers (and a dog) ready to confront them\u2026<\/p>\n

With Chippy Kipper in the vanguard, the chilling regiment invades Molly\u2019s home turf but \u2018The Battle of Brick Lane\u2019 <\/em>is no one-sided affair. One plucky minor has remembered the secret of the Rabbi\u2019s Golem and conceived a daring stratagem to immobilise the monstrous invaders. As for Kipper\u2019s human thugs, they\u2019ve severely underestimated the solidarity of hundreds of poor-but-honest folk pushed just a bit too far, one time too many\u2026<\/p>\n

When the dust settles, Sherlock Holmes has one last surprise for his squad of juvenile surrogates\u2026<\/p>\n

Adding to the charm and cheer is a cover-&-variants gallery by Hirsch & Hannah Christenson, sketch and design feature \u2018Meet the Peculiars\u2019 <\/em>and a delirious sequence of all-Langridge strips starring his unique interpretation of the Great Detective Himself in \u2018The Peculiar Adventures of Sherlock Holmes\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Reverently refencing and spoofing beloved old films and our oh-so-idiosyncratic manners and parlance with a loving ear for an incongruous laugh, The Baker Street Peculiars<\/strong> is a sheer triumph of spooky whimsy, reinventing what was great about classic British storytelling. Fast, funny, slyly witty and with plenty of twists, it is an absolute delight from start to finish and another sublime example of comics at its most welcoming.
\n\u2122 & \u00a9 2016 Roger Langridge & Andrew Hirsch All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roger Langridge, Andrew Hirsh & Fred Stresing (KaBOOM!) ISBN: 978-1-60886-928-2 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-61398-599-1 Roger Langridge is a very talented gentleman with a uniquely beguiling way of telling stories. He has mastered every aspect of the comics profession from lettering (Dr. Who) to writing (Thor: The Mighty Avenger) to illustration (Knuckles the Malevolent Nun, Zoot!). … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Baker Street Peculiars”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,42,66,125,97,225,327],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-best-of-british","category-horror-stories","category-humour","category-kids-all-ages","category-mystery","category-sherlock-holmes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7pp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28486,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28483\/revisions\/28486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}