The Baker Street Four, Vol. 1

Perhaps thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock Holmes is now experiencing one of his periodic waves of attention in entertainment. This French graphic novel, translated into English for the first time, promotes the Baker Street Irregulars to solving their own cases, with Holmes and Dr. Watson appearing only briefly. The ragtag team of young urchins—and their mangy cat, Watson—face off against kidnappers and Russian revolutionaries as they dash around Victorian London. Scripters Djian and Etien give the four distinctive characterizations, outlooks, and skills, and the art is gorgeous, with an architectural depiction of London that eschews period grime for high adventure. The book treads some of the same ground as Roger Langridge’s recently released graphic novel The Baker Street Peculiars, but there’s more than enough room in the market for competing concepts, especially one as loving to the Holmes canon as this. (May)