Exploring the Dark Mysteries: A Review of ‘Noir is the New Black Presents: Watson and Holmes’ TPB

Growing up in Brooklyn’s Sumner Houses during the 1970s and 1980s, my white heroes were often transformed into blacks. Black people are not the only ones who exist in modern times.

Then, I’d imagine black Robin Hoods and Merry Men fighting against the Wicked Sheriff Bushwick. The Knights of the Round Table could be a multicultural crew with adventures in the future, similar to DC’s Camelot.

Karl Bollers takes the fantasy of my childhood and amplifies it by reimagining Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, both black men who live in Harlem today.

Watson, an Afghan veteran working at an inner city clinic, is joined by Holmes, a private investigator known in the area for his ability to take on difficult cases.

Watson and Holmes form a team to help find a girl who has gone missing after one of Holmes cases ends up at Watson’s ER. Watson and Holmes have a bumpy ride as they navigate a maze of guns, drugs, gangs and conspiracy.

The writing was inconsistent and I lost the plot at one point. Artwork is inconsistent because there are different artists working on the books in this collection.

Each artist has captured the mood of the story and Watson and Holmes are never so different that they become unsettling or jarring.

This is one series I’m sure will become almost perfect once it finds its groove.

Rick Leonardi and Larry Stroman.
Created by Brandon Perlow and Paul Mendoza
Cover image by Khary R. Randolph
Fairsquare Comics LLC is the publisher of this comic book.