I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Two New Sherlock Holmes Games

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"playing a game with us" [NORW]</h4>
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In the fall of 2011 Focus Home Interactive will publish a new Sherlock Holmes video game developed by Frogwares Game Development Studio. You may recall our original post on the matter (<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/02/my-hands-on-testament-iden_18.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">New From Frogwares — The Testament of Sherlock Holmes</a>) back in February. The game, titled The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is specially designed for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 game consoles, while also playable on PC. New screenshots of the game can be found at <a href="http://www.sherlockholmes-thegame.com/">The Adventure Games of Sherlock Holmes</a> as well as information on all of Frogwares’ other games in their Adventure of Sherlock Holmes series.<br />
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If you prefer your gaming to happen on a table rather than a screen, <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/924/new-game-round-up-gamyes-tryos-fromys-ystari-dd-le">BoardGameGeek News</a> reports:<br />
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Ystari Games will release a new edition of the 1985 Spiel des Jahres winner, <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2511/sherlock-holmes-consulting-detective">Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective</a>, with the mysteries rewritten to match the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This game will likely appear in 2011, with both a regular and a deluxe edition.</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMdwkP0U0IjB8w1A3K-j0nKXI_J0u9-c5EnlqqXVYAlTCQ6-ArQzfEip4HL6QIzH3_f5z2rN5_hHJC1mziNmksIBvx6VWW_I5n4C25qGJtAek5Dbxjyc_9lRP9GVf_6nkYhbzmQu2jNoQ/s1600/SHConsulting+Detective.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMdwkP0U0IjB8w1A3K-j0nKXI_J0u9-c5EnlqqXVYAlTCQ6-ArQzfEip4HL6QIzH3_f5z2rN5_hHJC1mziNmksIBvx6VWW_I5n4C25qGJtAek5Dbxjyc_9lRP9GVf_6nkYhbzmQu2jNoQ/s200/SHConsulting+Detective.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
A bit vague, but something to look forward to. The game is currently out of print (although <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Consulting-Detective-BOX/dp/0915341069?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">rare copies are occasionally available</a><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjbKovrzakLJqtCoEOIfl9gHCsGmQD2EE_yULaDMRzpCJ2hUJfpVqtmYWpa9Fk7WJE11MWbduRzKRHVrg72-nLXOGTHzr_7RmazpK4mT2KHR-AFKW9FjvoCZTNcKjbwCL1_FuZ3aOXktgemHdMWlFiLa8IucKEJUfUrd2ISFlNor4FUwmAMMHtsxtvWoUeWevh50wTvPkKGFRYN3EYjPdmg-MgVJf7r=" /> from merchants), making the Ystari reprint welcome news to fans and to anyone who's ever wanted to try it. From what I understand, players assume the role of a Baker Street Irregular and are given a mystery to solve. There are no dice, and no board; players use a map of London, a 'clue book', an archive of newspaper articles and a directory of people and places to solve the case. Designed for 1-6 people, the game can be played competitively, cooperatively or solo. Many reviews I've read compare it to a 'choose your own adventure' book, in that there is a lot of reading and the gameplay is very free form - you really do choose who to interview and where to go based on your own observations of the clues. For an added challenge, there is a 'Holmes score' for each case - can you solve the mystery faster than the Great Detective did?<br />
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I look forward to trying. Hopefully "likely appear in 2011" happens sooner rather than later.<br />
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<i><b>Editor's note:</b> Kate writes at <a href="http://www.thediaryofdrwatts.com/">The Diary of Dr. Watts</a>.</i></div>
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Two New Sherlock Holmes Games

"playing a game with us" [NORW] In the fall of 2011 Focus Home Interactive will publish a new Sherlock Holmes video game develo...

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by Scott Monty

"Where All Gossip is Welcome" [VALL]

This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlockian or Doylean gossip, published in print form since 1971 and as <a href="http://members.cox.net/sherlock1/scuttle.htm">a text-only digital archive on Sherlocktron</a> since 1985. In agreement with Peter Blau, we've arranged to publish facsimiles of the print newsletter here, so online readers can see what the newsletter looks like. Below the scan you can find links to the sites mentioned in the text - in most cases, directly to the article, video or publication, to save you from having to search for the terms.<br /><br />The following is the April 2011 issue; please feel free to share it via email, social network, or embed it on your own site.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/54252053/Scuttlebutt-from-the-Spermaceti-Press-April-2011?secret_password=atlc6qedngs9utsy9ku" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto; text-decoration: underline;" title="View Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press April 2011 on Scribd">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press April 2011</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.772727272727273" data-auto-height="true" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_38001" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/54252053/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-1sxa14j9bpb9bl8uxuu3&secret_password=atlc6qedngs9utsy9ku" width="100%"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })(); </script><br /><br /><b>Links</b> (in order of mention):<br /><ul><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsmonty/5671167489/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="The Sherlock Holmes Stories, summed up by Scott Monty, on Flickr"><img alt="The Sherlock Holmes Stories, summed up" height="240" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5671167489_3bcac8975e_m.jpg" width="202" /></a><li><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/silkstocking/retro.html">Masterpiece Theatre's Sherlock Holmes: A Retrospective</a></li><li><a href="http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=undershaw&_sacat=See-All-Categories">Undershaw items on eBay</a></li><li><a href="http://audio-sales1.amazonwebstore.com/search.htm?keyword=conan+doyle">L.A Theatre Works recordings of "Fake" and "The Lost World"</a></li><li><a href="http://zavvi.com/">The Muppet Show: Season One (Special Edition) at Zavvi.com</a> (you can also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU27gd34R-I">view the Muppet Sherlock Holmes skit by clicking here</a> or embedded below).</li><li><a href="http://www.youngsherlock.com/">Young Sherlock Holmes: Red Leech</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxqN3tfdIp8&feature=player_embedded">Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers (YouTube)</a> and <a href="http://www.anthonydpmann.com/">Anthony Mann's website</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetrecordings.com/">Baker Street Recordings</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/entry/A83345132">The Lost World - 1925 film</a></li><li><a href="http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2010/10/16/scripts/ruth.shtml">Prairie Home Companion - Ruth Harrison, reference librarian meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65QVyEfR2uI">Hallmark Interactive Buddy Demo - Watson (YouTube)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/House-Silk-Sherlock-Holmes-Novel/dp/0316196991?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The House of Silk (Amazon.com)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0316196991" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></li><li><a href="http://www.henryzecher.com/">William Gillette: America's Sherlock Holmes by Henry Zecher</a></li><li><a href="http://www.buzzerbeater.com/team/28544/overview.aspx">The Baker Street Irregulars on BuzzerBeater.com</a></li><li>The alternative title for <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Annotated-Sherlock-Holmes-Complete/dp/0393059162?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393059162" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i> at <a href="http://betterbooktitles.com/post/2581529122/sherlock">Better Book Titles: Drugs Make You Smarter</a></li><li><a href="http://www.lileks.com/institute/100mysteries/">James Lileks 100 Mysteries</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.halglatzer.com/holmes/index.html">Sherlock Holmes and the Volcano Horror</a></li><li><a href="http://sherlockian.net/">Sherlockian.net</a></li><li><a href="http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/penguin-books-unputdownable/">Penguin's "unputdownable" <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i></a></li><li><a href="http://www.fancythatoflondon.co.uk/SherlockHolmesGifts">Sherlock Holmes gifts at Fancy That of London</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/">The Sherlock Holmes Society of London</a></li><li><a href="http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/growth-and-history/blueplaques/blueplaquespeople/francistankysmith/">Francis "Tanky" Smith's plaque in Leicester</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.com/e_times11-3.htm">The Sherlockian e-Times</a></li><li><a href="http://www.miracletheatre.co.uk/tourdates/The%20Death%20of%20Sherlock%20Holmes">The Miracle Theatre Company - "The Death of Sherlock Holmes"</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theatreaquarius.org/">Theatre Aquarius</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/baftaonline">BAFTA on YouTube (only for UK residents)</a></li></ul><br /><b>The Muppet Show: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Clue</b><br /><br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LU27gd34R-I" width="480"></iframe></center><br /><br />Sherlock Holmes...and the Shadow Watchers<br /><br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vxqN3tfdIp8" width="480"></iframe></center><br /><br /><b>Hallmark Interative Buddy Demo - Watson</b><br /><br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/65QVyEfR2uI" width="640"></iframe></center><br /><br /><i>Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site.</i><br /><i>--</i><br /><i><br /></i>

"Where All Gossip is Welcome" [VALL]

This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlock...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

A Look at Weddings and Marriages in the Sherlock Holmes Stories

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"a fashionable wedding" [NOBL]</h4>
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It's wedding fever as William and Kate enter into holy matrimony today at Westminster Abbey. And while the British, for the most part, are yawning their way through this one, there's always some intrigue around a well known couple that ties the knot in a very public way.<br />
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While not every wedding in the Sherlock Holmes stories was public, there are a few mentions of weddings and marriages in the Canon that are worth noting here. Let's take a look at some wedding-related items, shall we?<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Engagements</span></b></h4>
"<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/iden.htm">A Case of Identity</a>" involved the courtship and engagement of Mary Sutherland and Hosmer Angel, leading to the subsequent disappearance of the groom on the morning of the wedding. The relationship didn't have a happy ending, but Holmes managed to use a hunting crop to threaten justice.<br />
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Sherlock Holmes himself (under the guise of Escott) became engaged to <a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/chas.htm">Charles Augustus Milverton's</a> housemaid in an effort to stop Milverton from blackmailing Lady Eva Blackwell, who was engaged to the Earl of Dovercourt. Their wedding, a fortnight away, was in jeopardy if the stolen documents came to light.<br />
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Other engagements include Percy Phelps and Annie Harrison (NAVA); Richard Brunton and Rachel Howells (MUSG); the Hon. Ronald Adair and Miss Edith Woodley (EMPT); Mrs. McFarlane and Jonas Oldacre (NORW); Elsie Patrick and Abe Slaney (DANC); Trevor Bennett and Edith Presbury (CREE); and Maud Bellamy and Fitzroy McPherson (LION).<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Marriages, forced</span></b></h4>
Probably one of the most famous marriage situations in the Canon was the polygamous relationship that Lucy Ferrier was forced into the Enoch Drebber and Joseph Stangerson in <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Scarlet-Illustrated-Classics-Sherlock/dp/1402770820?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">A Study in Scarlet</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1402770820" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></b></i>. The two used their authority in the Mormon church to abduct her from her father's house and away from Jefferson Hope. It was a transcontinental trip ending in London that made Sherlock Holmes famous in his first public appearance.<br />
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Oh, the things they'll do for...money. Violet Smith's rich uncle passed away in South Africa and two money-seeking colleagues wanted to marry her for the inheritance in "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/soli.htm">The Solitary Cyclist</a>." They played cards to determine who would be the suitor, and then she was abducted and held at gunpoint through a ceremony in the woods. "But in any case, a forced marriage is no marriage," determined Holmes, and Miss Smith was free to see her fiancé Cyril Morton once again.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Marriages, prevented</span></b></h4>
In "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/copp.htm">The Copper Beeches</a>," Jephro Rucastle had good reason to want keep Mr. Fowler away from his daughter Alice. So he found a stand-in and prevented the courtship from continuing. Or so he thought.<br />
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The Stoner sisters didn't have much luck when it came to weddings. First, after Julia announced her engagement and pending wedding, she died mysteriously in the night amid the sounds of clanking metal and a whistle, shrieking about "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/spec.htm">The Speckled Band</a>." Then, two years later, the same scenario presented itself to her sister Helen, who heard the same ominous noises.</div>
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Sherlock Holmes himself was hired to stop the wedding of Baron Gruner and Violet DeMerville in "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/illu.htm">The Illustrious Client</a>." Having been met with "calm aloofness and supreme self-complacence of the woman [he was] trying to save," Holmes had to resort to more devious methods.</div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Weddings</span></b></h4>
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In "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/scan.htm">A Scandal in Bohemia</a>," we come across not one, not two, but three marriages. We first find that Watson has married Mary Morstan, the damsel in distress in <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sign-Four-Illustrated-Classics-Sherlock/dp/1402780036?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Sign of Four</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1402780036" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></b>, as Holmes remarks, "Wedlock suits you." Then we discover that the King of Bohemia is about to be married to Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. A threat to this marriage is a certain photograph that Irene Adler has in her possession. It is her marriage to Godfrey Norton that sets things right.</div>
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The spoiler "The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination," opens "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/nobl.htm">The Noble Bachelor</a>." We learn of a down-on-his-luck nobleman who marries the daughter of an American millionaire. Only the marriage is not to be. The young lady disappears, her wedding gown left floating in the Serpentine. If there were one story you read today regarding weddings in the Canon, this should be the one.</div>
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And when weddings actually do occur, it's customary to have gifts. Dr. Mortimer received his walking stick (the one he left behind at 221B Baker Street) "From one or two friends on the occasion of my marriage," in <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hound-Baskervilles-Illustrated-Classics-Sherlock/dp/1402770006?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Hound of the Baskervilles</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1402770006" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i></b>.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Separation/Divorce</span></b></h4>
We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the downside of marriage. In the area of divorce, we know that Laura Lyons was trying to get a divorce from her husband so she could marry Stapleton [HOUN]. And also that in "<a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/devi.htm">The Devil's Foot</a>," Dr. Leon Sterndale and Brenda Tregennis were in love, but were in a tough situation: "I could not marry her, for I have a wife who has left me for years and yet whom, by the deplorable laws of England, I could not divorce."<br />
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Finally, we can think of no better example of a couple at odds with each other than the one that Holmes used in "A Case of Identity."<br />
Watson relates:<br />
<blockquote>
"Here is the first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of writers could invent nothing more crude."</blockquote>
And Holmes replies:<br />
<blockquote>
"Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over you in your example."</blockquote>
Ah, marriage. Sometimes the mundane is exciting enough.<br />
<blockquote>
The man who never in his life<br />
Has washed the dishes with his wife<br />
Or polished up the silver plate -<br />
He still is largely celibate.</blockquote>
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~Christopher Morley, Washing the Dishes</blockquote>
Are there other favorite wedding, marriage or engagement connections in the Canon you think we should have covered? Leave us a comment below.<br />
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<i>--</i><br />
<br />

A Look at Weddings and Marriages in the Sherlock Holmes Stories

"a fashionable wedding" [NOBL] It's wedding fever as William and Kate enter into holy matrimony today at Westminster Abbey...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Muppet Sherlock Holmes — A Review

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<h4 style="text-align: center;">"all the fearlessness of youth" [STUD]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2zz_eBCIYD67XFI8-HAb-ezSES2OKS74m-ji3NSKvpaF7HfobcVy0hXyN7Y-Q2OQ4JWb3zQ_yMyMFn4oNlISIcQJvMFXaJADzLZh3U96IzFxknO1Y89hSN2hhQZRL3XFvYWFqw993-Js/s1600/Rootie+Kazootie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2zz_eBCIYD67XFI8-HAb-ezSES2OKS74m-ji3NSKvpaF7HfobcVy0hXyN7Y-Q2OQ4JWb3zQ_yMyMFn4oNlISIcQJvMFXaJADzLZh3U96IzFxknO1Y89hSN2hhQZRL3XFvYWFqw993-Js/s640/Rootie+Kazootie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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My introduction to Sherlock Holmes came...well, via two sources. One was the well-worn copy of <i><b><a href="https://affiliates.abebooks.com/c/2670720/77416/2029?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abebooks.com%2Fservlet%2FSearchResults%3Fan%3DDoyle%26bi%3D0%26bx%3Doff%26cm_sp%3DSearchF-_-Advs-_-Result%26ds%3D30%26prc%3DUSD%26recentlyadded%3Dall%26rgn%3Dww%26rollup%3Don%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3DBoys%2527%2520Sherlock%2520Holmes%26xdesc%3Doff%26xpod%3Doff" target="_blank">Boys' Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0060217359" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="1" /></b></i> at a library near my grandmother's; the other was through constant repeats of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce films on Sunday afternoons. In short, perhaps like many people my age, my introduction to Sherlock Holmes was rather age-appropriate, and the heady atmosphere of Doyle's stories captivated me because I was exposed to adaptations which mixed that atmosphere with other, more contemporary elements.<br />
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Almost one year Ago, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2010/05/were-equally-puppets-in-his-hands-soli_4.html">Boom Studios announced that it was releasing a four issue mini-series entitled <b>Muppet Sherlock Holmes</b></a>. Fortunately, that four-issue series has been released as a trade paperback, and quite frankly, it is not only a great introduction for future Sherlockians, but a great addition to any current Sherlockian library.<br />
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Or in other words, there is no age limit to the readership of this book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_x8qLxCvfMigmYEPJ6-PF48D5Ieg1Ak5dtMjwOd_jYWPLTxfC3AxvmX0xxPXSkuU93dNPk8cSOmYZOUtV8mX2vjJmzrfuHoIp2l9jfSIaqotDFlp94VGjpAs4b69G30m0bVFQQZpEkFP/s1600/Muppet+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_x8qLxCvfMigmYEPJ6-PF48D5Ieg1Ak5dtMjwOd_jYWPLTxfC3AxvmX0xxPXSkuU93dNPk8cSOmYZOUtV8mX2vjJmzrfuHoIp2l9jfSIaqotDFlp94VGjpAs4b69G30m0bVFQQZpEkFP/s320/Muppet+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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Patrick Storck deftly adapts four stories from the canon - "Speckled Band", "A Scandal in Bohemia", "Red Headed League" and "Musgrave Ritual" - but provides them with the kind of humor that is noted with the Muppets. It also strikes a tender balance, finding the humor in the characters without making them parody or cliche. In addition, there are some deft contemporary references (including what I believe to be a punk rock reference) that manage to avoid the trap of taking the reader out of the story. These are simply entertaining for readers of all ages.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1608866130" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="1" />But quite frankly, it's Amy Mebberson's artwork that really gives the series a lift. It would have been easy to make the art look overtly like a cartoon (after all, we are talking about the Muppets), but Mebberson manages to give it a slight Victorian sheen - not enough to take away form the humor, but plenty to give it a lift. This is as much a comic that is enjoyable to look at as it is to read.<br />
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Reading the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3ZpQUC8" target="_blank">Muppet Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1608866130" style="border: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="1" /></span> trade has made me more than eager to revisit the canon - although I've been making my way through, this is a must read not just for present scholars of the Great Detective...but for their descendants.<br />
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[<i>Gordon posts on the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and the entertainment industry, and also writes about comics and popular culture for <a href="http://www.blogthispal.com/">Blog THIS, Pal!</a> and <a href="http://www.comicrelated.com/">Comic Related</a></i>]</div>
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