Somerset Holmes
{{Short description|American comic book series}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox comic book title
|image = SomersetHolmesGraphicAlbum.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption = Cover to Somerset Holmes collected edition, art by Brent Anderson.
|schedule = Bimonthly
|format = Limited series
|1shot =
|Superhero =
|publisher = Pacific Comics (1983-1984)
Eclipse Comics (1984)
|date = September 1983-December 1984
|issues = 6
|main_char_team =
|writers = Bruce Jones
April Campbell
|artists = Brent Anderson
|pencillers =
|inkers =
|letterers =
|colorists = Brent Anderson
|editors = April Campbell
|creative_team_month =
|creative_team_year =
|creators = Bruce Jones
April Campbell
|TPB =
|ISBN =
|TPB# =
|ISBN# =
|subcat =
|altcat =
|sort = Somerset Holmes
}}
Somerset Holmes is a creator-owned American comic book series created by Bruce Jones and April Campbell. It was initially published as a six-issue limited series by Pacific Comics and then Eclipse Comics between 1983 and 1984.
Creation
Somerset Holmes was a deliberate attempt to create a comics property that could then be sold to Hollywood as a film; the storyline, panel arrangements and scene angles were consciously cinematic. At the time Jones was already working with Pacific Comics on the anthologies Twisted Tales and Alien Worlds, and gathered further attention for a well-received run on Marvel Comics' Ka-Zar the Savage. Pacific was one of a growing number of independent comics publishers in America at the time that allowed creators to retain rights to their work, rather than the work for hire model used by larger rivals.{{cite web|url=http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=265&ai=43997&ssd=8/23/2003&arch=y|title=Remembering Somerset Holmes|website=Scoop|access-date=August 22, 2011|archive-date=November 8, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131108171347/http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=34&s=265&ai=43997&ssd=8/23/2003&arch=y|url-status=dead}} As such Jones and Campbell would retain the rights to Somerset Holmes and directly profit from any adaptations of the work.
The physical appearance of the main character was based on Campbell, a former model and Jones' partner at the time. She posed as photo reference for the character, including the image used for the first issue's cover.
{{cite comic|title=Somerset Holmes|issue=|date=January 1986|story=How I Got into Movies|writer=Bruce Jones|publisher=Eclipse Comics}} Jones storyboarded the initial pages for artist Anderson, and noted Pacific gave him considerable creative control over the series.
Publication history
The first issue of Somerset Holmes went on sale on July 15, 1983,{{cite magazine|date=15 August 1983|title=Coming Distractions|magazine=Amazing Heroes|publisher=Redbeard, Inc|number=29}} and contained a brief piece showing Campbell modelling for the character with text explaining the creative process.{{cite comic|title=Somerset Holmes|issue=#1|date=September 1983|story=Putting It All Together|publisher=Pacific Comics}} Shortly after the fourth issue was published in April 1984,{{cite magazine|date=May 1984|title=Coming Distractions|magazine=Amazing Heroes|publisher=Redbeard, Inc|number=46}} Pacific folded after suffering sustained financial problems.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2004/aug/19/two-men-and-their-comic-books/|title=The birth and death of Pacific Comics | San Diego Reader|website=www.sandiegoreader.com}} Most of Pacific's titles subsequently found a home at another independent, Eclipse Comics. They published the remaining two issues of Somerset Holmes in 1984{{cite magazine|date=June 1, 1988|title=Enlarging the Penumbra|author=Bob Hughes|magazine=Amazing Heroes|publisher=Fantagraphics Books|number=142}} and subsequently collected all six issues in an oversized graphic album.{{cite magazine|date=December 1, 1986|title=Newsline|magazine=Amazing Heroes|publisher=Fantagraphics Books|number=107}} The collection has long been out of print.{{Cite web|url=https://totaleclipse.blog/2018/03/11/1984-somerset-holmes/|title=1984: Somerset Holmes|first=Lars|last=Inbrigsten|date=March 11, 2018}}
=Planned film adaptation=
After the first issue was published, director Harley Cokeliss, then working on Black Moon Rising, expressed an interest in adapting the story. The series was optioned by producer Ed Pressman, who considered musician Annie Lennox for the lead before offering it to Jamie Lee Curtis, but the project would slide into development hell and would not be made. Jones and Campbell's screenplay for the film however gained them agents and membership in the Screen Writers Guild. This led to both subsequently working on television and film projects.
Both Jones and Campbell would later go on to state their belief that Renny Harlin's 1996 film The Long Kiss Goodnight was plagiarised from Somerset Holmes, something Jones recalled was also noticed by Harlan Ellison. Both, however, were predated by Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity, published in 1980, which had the same premise of an amnesiac with remarkable fighting/survival skills being pursued by assailants.
Plot
An amnesiac young woman is being chased by criminals intent on killing her. She attempts to stay alive while simultaneously struggling to solve the mystery of her past life and true identity - taking the assumed name Somerset Holmes from a sign advertising a housing project called Somerset Homes.
Collected editions
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Title | ISBN | Release date | Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset Holmes
| {{ISBNT|9780913035160}} | January 1986 | Somerset Holmes #1-6 |
Reception
Somerset Holmes has received generally positive reviews. Heidi MacDonald focused on reviewing the opening issues in The Comics Journal #93, noting the Alfred Hitchcock-style cinematic influences and stylings but also arguing that the series used elements which only worked as a comic, referring to the hybrid of styles as "Comicsmatics", while also gently ribbing a sequence where a character prepares to dry their face with a towel despite still having soap on it.{{cite magazine|date=September 1984|author=Heidi MacDonald|title=The Art of Comicsmatics|magazine=The Comics Journal|publisher=Redbeard, Inc|number=93}} The latter scene was also picked up on by Lars Ingebrigtsen, who broadly enjoyed the comic but felt there was a notable drop in quality between the Pacific and Eclipse issues.
In a retrospective review for Slings & Arrows, Frank Plowright gave the collected edition full marks, calling it "among the best crime-themed graphic novels published in the USA".{{Cite web|url=https://theslingsandarrows.com/somerset-holmes/|title=Slings & Arrows}} Ed Catto called Somerset Holmes "a gorgeous comic with a gorgeous female lead".{{Cite web|url=https://www.comicmix.com/2017/08/14/ed-catto-baby-got-back/|title=Ed Catto: Baby Got Back | ComicMix|website=www.comicmix.com|date=14 August 2017}} D. Aviva Rothschild was less effusive, criticising the "static" artwork and convoluted plot but admitting the series was a "page turner".{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQVJxnfmVtgC | isbn=9781563080869 | title=Graphic Novels: A Bibliographic Guide to Book-length Comics | year=1995 | publisher=Libraries Unlimited}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{gcdb series|id=2797|title=Somerset Holmes (Pacific Comics)}}
- {{gcdb series|id=2924|title=Somerset Holmes (Eclipse Comics)}}
- {{gcdb series|id=29268|title=Somerset Holmes (Collected edition)}}
{{Eclipse Comics}}
Category:Comic book limited series
Category:Eclipse Comics titles