Captain Basil

Present-day me agrees with most of your complaints about the way Byrne took a hatchet to so much of Superman’s gee-whiz Silver Age history. But reading the story in real time as a kid in elementary school, I accepted the changes wholesale and was thrilled by them.

I adore Waid. He clearly loves the material. But to me, it felt like he was a baseball player who was overthinking his swing. The effort to write THE definitive origin showed on each page. The result was admirable, but I had more fun reading Byrne's and Johns' origins. Maybe I'm due for a reread

From December through March, that's just the way we all look here in Maine

At a quick glance, I thought it was Azrael. Made me realize the similarity of their designs

This era will forever be easy to spot based on the high collars and unnecessary piping along imaginary seams

Currently on the last chapter of book 15 in the series, The Truelove. I can almost feel the sea spray on my face as I read

If you are going to make a claim that any adaptation is the best, it needs to be put into context. How did it succeed beyond other adaptations? Has this reviewer seen Rathbone, Cushing or (above all) Brett? Otherwise it’s all just fanboy ranting. And I say this as a Cumberbatch fan myself

Yeah, it’s an unfortunate inversion of the “show, don’t tell” rule. We get a good description of Holmes’ use of baritsu in EMPT. In SOLI, he tells Watson about his bar fight with Jack Woodley. And Sholto’s security guard praises Holmes’ boxing skills in SIGN

Touché. Either way, the story made Doyle uncomfortable enough to suppress it, creating a jumble of the reading order and duplicate intros.

Oh, me too! My only point was that Holmes’ physicality is just as authentic as his mental processes

It’s also frustrating to me that Doubleday placed Hound after the stories of the Return collection when Hound was published first. I guess the publisher wanted readers to proceed directly from The Final Problem to The Empty House. Makes sense, but I prefer the original order 4/4

During the intervening years, he reused CARD’s intro in The Resident Patient. The Doubleday edition published both stories with the same intro, which irks me to no end. I’d much rather read the the original intro to RESI as it appeared in The Strand. 3/

My biggest issue is The Cardboard Box. It was originally published in 1893 and should have been collected with the Memoirs. But probably due to the violence, Doyle suppressed it first years. He finally deigned to have it included in His Last Bow. 2/

Publication order is tricky. The most common omnibus volume is the Doubleday edition. I don’t entirely agree with its organization. 1/

With the exception of COPP, these aren’t the stories I would necessarily recommend to get a new reader hooked on Holmes. But hey, whatever works!

The stories from the Return collection are almost all great. Doyle was clearly energized by Holmes’ resurrection. The stories of His Last Bow are a step down but decent. Then the quality drops off a cliff in the Casebook collection, though there are still a couple of gems to be found. 3/3

Yes, the Adventures collection includes some of his greatest cases. But it also includes some misses like A Case of Identity. Of the bunch you read, I’d only put Cooper Beeches in the upper tier. Not that the other stories don’t have their charms. 2/

There’s a feeling among certain Holmes fans that his pre-Reichenbach adventures are better than those that came after. I’m not so sure. Early on, it’s pretty clear to me that Doyle was still learning his craft. 1/

Anarky is back???

I like adaptations that acknowledge Holmes’ canonical physicality. He’s an expert boxer, martial artist (baritsu), and swordsman. All those skills require training. That’s why I never sniffed at the action scenes in RDJ’s movies. It’s the versions that portray him as a creaky old man that are wrong

Thanks for clearing that up. I’m sure most of the folks out there are friendly

Since when?

Love Adams. But after Batman Begins, Gotham and Arrow, I don’t need more Ra’s Al Ghul for a while. Instead…bring on Man-Bat!

Agreed! Comics history is littered with forgotten characters just waiting to be rediscovered. Nocturna is a personal favorite

I traded with a friend to get that book

The baseball team in Portland is named the Sea Dogs. What’s that? There’s ANOTHER Portland? Oh FFS

Kinda looks like those Bateman commercials

Blonde isn’t a dealbreaker for me, just not my first choice. Richard Roxburgh is also fair haired and I thought he did a fine job

'Once Upon a Time' alum Robert Carlyle cast as Sherlock Holmes in 'Watson' season 2 Sherlock lives! 'Once Upon a Time' alum Robert Carlyle has been cast as the famous Holmes in season 2 of 'Watson.'

The casting on "Watson" has been aggressively against type thus far. By comparison, the choice for Holmes seems more conventional. Robert Carlyle is shorter and blonder than I'd like, but there is a pleasing sharpness to his face. If he can project a similar sharpness of mind, he'll do just fine.

Great stuff. The Metropolis of that era was a thriving and distinctive setting. Among Superman’s supporting cast, Gangbuster was a favorite of mine. I keep wishing he’ll be revived by a creator who sees his potential. You can imagine how disappointed I was by his treatment in One-Star Squadron