Here’s your mystery: why does the cover say first issue but the publishing info says #3?
Holmes Incorporated
Ty Templeton’s Comic Book Boot Camp (August, 2012)
CREATOR/EDITOR: Ty Templeton
LETTERER: K.T. Smith, unless otherwise indicated
I wasn’t expecting this to be an anthology, but it’s next on the list. From what I can tell this is part of his comic book teaching school (or was, as the website hasn’t updated since 2019 as of this review). I don’t know how students are chosen to be part of this, but Holmes Incorporated is one of three issues following the story of the descendants of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. How well did they do? Well, let’s see.
[Download and read with me here]
(I should have added the free comic links for Drive Thru Comics years ago.)
“Welcome To Holmes Incorporated”
[WRITER: Greg Dunford | ARTIST: Christopher Yao]
Arthur, the descendant of Mycroft Holmes, wants in. The teen thinks stealing Holmes’ favorite magnifying glass from the Sherlock Holmes museum, also headquarters of Holmes Incorporated is the way to do it. He fails, but he’s also right. It’s really a way to introduce the cast: the grandson and great grandson of Holmes, the great granddaughter of John Watson, a teen spy, and a former MI:6 agent, all descendants of Holmes or Watson. It’s a good introduction to the cast and the concept of the series.
“Night Clubbing”
[WRITER: Kathleen Gallagher | ARTIST: Eden Bachelder]
Trey, the spy girl, is at an MMA event in New York along with a filmographer who wants to do a documentary on Holmes, Inc…and date Trey. Arthur happens to be in town as well, and the trio investigate when one of the fighters is murdered. The story is good though it goes a bit fast, and the art really doesn’t fit, especially when it comes to fight scenes. That’s something I need work on as well, but the fight between the Holmes team and security guards at the killer’s place was kind of stiff.
“Peril In Paris”
[WRITER: Mike Marano | PENCILER: Alex Greychuck | INKER: Dean Dumont
Elizabeth might be Watson’s descendant but she’s still as good a detective as Holmes as she and Arthur (who I’m guessing is going to be the main character in all the stories) investigate an allegedly unsolved Holmes case. It’s a nice twist, though we still get bad guys thanks to drug smuggling squatters. The art’s a little better here, but so far the first story had the best art.
“Flight Plan”
[WRITER: Robert Pincombe | PENCILER: Gibson Quarter | INKER: Ty Templeton
Elizabeth and Edgar, the MI:6 guy, investigate a fake plane crash, leading them to a hijacking by soldiers or mercenaries or something seeking revenge on the rich dude who left them behind. Arthur’s not in this one, but for some reason he’s still involved by replacing Elizabeth’s gun with blowdarts. Not sure why he did that. It’s a decent story. Art is better, and given there’s more action in this one that’s a good thing.
“Spring Loaded”
[WRITER: Maddy Beaupré | PENCILER/LETTERER: Rachel Wells | INKER: Pierce Desrochers-O’Sullivan]
No Arthur at all, but Trey is a bit more like him than she’s been in her previous appearances in the story. She and Elizabeth (who we learn is American–we learned earlier Arthur’s Canadian so Holmes and Watson’s seeds went all over the world) investigate a new drug called Spring, but the dealer doesn’t know how deadly it really is. Outside of Trey’s attitude and the art being kind of a downgrade, the story’s okay.
“The Bobby Bomber”
[WRITER: Rob Oakman | PENCILER: Jeff Rusland | INKER: Jeff Longstreet]
The Sherlock father and son team get this story all to themselves as they investigate a bombing at a police station. Holmes Sr. deduces everything rather fast, but I blame the story length for that. I could deal with it, though it could have used more time, but the art is hyper detailed on the faces and that keeps distracting me.
“Fingerless Prince”
[WRITER: Heather Emme | ARTIST: Adam Gorham]
Arthur, Trey, Elizabeth, and Edgar are sent to investigate a dead body as two groups fight over water rights in…I want to say the Australian outback. But was it murder? The art is rushed but sells a fairly good story. Arthur’s coming off as a little punk, though, especially towards Elizabeth. With Trey dunking on her earlier, you have to wonder what the younger members have against her.
“International Incident”
[WRITER/ARTIST/LETTERER: Pierce Desrochers-O’Sullivan]
Holmes Jr needs information but the younger people are messing with him, having a party, and are just kind of terrible to him. I didn’t like this story. There’s no mystery, just Arthur being a bigger jerk than he’s been so far, and I found the art rather ugly. Credit for trying to do something different, but this wasn’t it.
“The Strand A.D. Online”
[WRITER/ARTIST: Rob Pincombe]
This is just Trey’s blog, going over the history of her family. Arthur’s still a jerk who somehow finds a way to hack the blog with a self-promoting sentence she can’t delete. I think I hate this kid. Otherwise, a nice look at the full cast.
overall
The writing has good and bad stories, but it’s the art where things mostly fall apart. I know these are students, but they’re Ty Templeton’s students and this comic has his name on it, as he created it. I’m no superartist, either, but my name’s not attached to a name comic creator’s project beyond this review. It’s not terrible, and still worth looking a look at. I like the cast (except for Arthur) and most of the stories are at least decent. I might check out the other two issues while they’re available for free. (No money, remember.)
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