Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes, co-written by Cyril Lieron and Benoit Dahan, with art by Benoit, was recently published in English by Titan Comics. It’s a cracking good read – a very well put together, thoughtful story, both respectful of the original Victorian work, but providing a clever and appealing story for the modern reader, thanks to some very dynamic storytelling.
Dynamism is the key word overall when it comes to this enjoyable graphic novel, the story presented in a wondrous way, so as to draw upon some of the storytelling elements that are unique to comics, while also using some wonderful techniques, from a red string to follow the thinking, to visualisations of the most ingenious kind, as we follow the ingenuity of Holmes as he works matters out. It really is a cracking read.
A walking tour of Holmes’ London took place as part of the launch for Titan’s edition, and we would like to thank the publisher for the opportunity for James Bacon to interview the creators of this fine comic, Benoit responding to his questions….
PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THE INTERVIEW – SO YOU MAY WANT TO BUY THE GRAPHIC NOVEL FIRST!
You and Cyril Lieron co-wrote Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Scandalous Ticket, first published in French in 2019. How did you both divide the visual concept and conceits?
Benoit: We have been friends since our high school days, so everything went naturally between us. We regularly brainstorm together to find ideas and co-write the plot and dialogues. Sometimes visual layouts pop up during our sessions. If not, I call Cyril later when a visual idea comes to my mind, often occurring in absurd times and places, like when I shower. We discuss the layouts and sometimes re-adjust dialogues to fit the pages in the best way possible. So, even if we do write down details and know exactly how the story ends, it’s never a closed and finished writing job, the script keeps evolving as if it lived on its own.
Visually seeing the workings of Holmes’ mind, really works well in this comic, the thread linking the visualisations of what Holmes is seeing is all very clever. What was the process here?
The starting point of the concept was to use Conan Doyle’s exact words to the letter and directly depict them graphically. So we actually materialised the thread Holmes refers to in some of his investigations, and the same goes for his comparison between the human brain and an attic, in A Study in Scarlet. This gave birth to the recurring brain-attic surreal scenery, broken down into several rooms which have their own function. This way, the reader gets to witness what Watson could only partially describe from the outside.
Are there any books or comics that influenced them (Richard Scarry, for instance?).
Hundred per cent correct. I was raised on Richard Scarry books when I was a child, and still love them. Also, Fritz Khan’s work comes to mind when you want to show the inner functioning of the human body in a metaphoric way.
I also really enjoy Chris Ware and David B’s creative page layouts.
There appears to be a lot of knowledge of London geography in the story, what research did they carry out and was accuracy something you were working to? Were the maps hand drawn for instance?
The maps are actual antiques, I didn’t re-draw them. We really wanted to have an immersive feel about our whole book, and real maps help in that regard.
We went through a lot of research about places and buildings in 1890’s London. I would say 90 per cent of the buildings are real. Some don’t exist anymore, but we found vintage pictures showing how they looked at the time. This search is fascinating to us.
In your story, 221b in the story is located at Upper Baker Street. As fans of Holmes, did you make an active decision not to use the location as figured out by Peter Liddell, based on The Adventure of the Empty House? What was your thinking here?
It was not a deliberate decision not to use the address deduced by Peter Liddell. First of all, let’s be honest, we simply didn’t even know about this particular theory. There are so many.
Exactitude and certainty are obviously impossible when dealing with Sherlockian matters, since the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself never set out to keep technicalities very precise. So we kept things simple for the majority of the readers, and just opted for the 221B address in the Northern part, not far from the Baker Street metropolitan station, roughly at the museum’s spot.
Also, about the meaning of the “b” in the address, we liked the idea that some suggested (again, just one of the theories) that it referred to a floor or apartment inside the 221 building. Thus, Mrs Hudson on the ground floor would live in the 221a apartment, and Holmes and Watson in the 221b apartment on the first floor.
Blackwell is quite an ingenious concept, tying into colonialism and the darker side of that part of history, was there an intent to how you would portray the “Yellow Peril” trope in your story here?
Definitely. We wanted to turn the tables on the Sinophobic clichés of the time, in a somewhat mischievous way.
I was unsure if Blackwell actually died… is there ambiguity here for the reader to make their own assumption?
Ha ha! He is gone, for good. We’re not trying to create a new recurring nemesis for Holmes.
There is a strong modern view of colonialism, of history, and it is beautifully linked, was there an importance to having this clear in the story, placing it in the era of Holmes but with some modern thinking?
It was a tough task to dabble in colonial matters without forcing thoughts and words that would have been impossible for Holmes, Doyle, or most Victorians in their time. We tried to keep these considerations subtle. Events in the story lead to Holmes feeling the dark aspects of some of the colonial and imperialist decisions made by western countries, but we wouldn’t have him condemn these matters entirely, since we know him as a rather patriotic detective. His never-ending quest for true justice, sometimes even to the point of breaking the law, helps us understand his opinions are not one-sided.
The same may go for Doyle himself: he was pleading for a somewhat anti-racist conclusion in The Yellow Face, and he also defended George Edalji in real life, but still was not so modern about the Boer War in South Africa, or the Steve Dixie scene in The Adventure of the Three Gables story.
As for the importance of mentioning these historical events, we feel they actually play a substantial part in understanding today’s geopolitics.
There is quite a lot of detail to the story, are you both fans of Sherlock Holmes and what did you want to bring to the oeuvre with this pastiche?
Of course, we both are lifetime fans of Holmes’s, since the age of 10 or 12. We wanted to bring a new approach, showing Sherlock’s mind from behind the scenes. Using (and even sometimes abusing!) the codes of comic book structure, we felt we could go further than what a cinematic production could bring, when the inner world of the detective becomes surreal, and without a Hollywoodian hundred-million dollar budget.
Do you have a favourite Holmes story, by Conan Doyle, and why would that be?
We both are immense fans of The Hound of the Baskervilles. It is such a perfect blend of complex investigation (with numerous clues) and quasi-supernatural horror.
Other favourites include The Sign of the Four, Silver Blaze, The Musgrave Ritual, The Blue Carbuncle and many more.
Are there any other Holmes pastiches you like and would recommend?
We haven’t read a lot of pastiches, to be honest. Both of us prefer to stick to the original Doylean canon. Still, Anthony Horowitz and David Stuart Davies’ pastiches are solid work. I enjoyed the “Sherlock Holmes’ Rediscovered Railway Mysteries” by John Taylor (those are read by Benedict Cumberbatch as an audiobook). As for graphic novels, the “Holmes” series by Brunschwig and Cecil (French authors too) is a really interesting take.
Benoit, thank you for your time and good luck to you and Cyril with your further projects.
• Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Scandalous Ticket, written by Cyril Lieron with art by Benoit Dahan, published in English by Titan Comics, is available now from al good bookshops | 96pp | ISBN: 978-1787738911 | Buy it from Forbidden Planet (Affiliate Link) | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | Buy it from your favoured local bookshop via Bookshop.org.uk (Affiliate Link)
Cyril Lieron, a colourist since 1995, has worked on a huge range of titles, including titles such as Percevan, L’Arcantane Noire, and Le Maître des Étoiles for Dargaud, Red Label Voodoo at Soleil, and more.
• Follow Cyril Lieron on Instagram
Benoit Dahan is a French writer, artist and colourist who lives in Paris. After studying Graphic Arts at ESAG, his professional career as an illustrator began with work for newspapers and magazines such as Le Monde, Libération, Le Point, and Science et vie junior, and children’s books. He is also the co-creator of Simon Radius with his friend, Erwan Courbier.
• Benoit Dahan is online at www.benoitdahan.com | Instagram | Twitter
French Edition Links
• More about the “Dans la tête de Sherlock Holmes” project, in French, on Facebook
• Dans la tête de Sherlock Holmes – L’Affaire du ticket scandaleux Volume One (AmazonUK Affiliate Link) | ISBN 979-1033509721
• Dans la tête de Sherlock Holmes – L’Affaire du ticket scandaleux Volume Two (AmazonUK Affiliate Link) | ISBN 979-1033512547
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Creator Interviews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features
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