Titan Comics has announced plans to publish M.O.R.I.A.R.T.Y: A Clockwork Empire, the stunning steampunk serial first published in French by Delcourt.

The creation of Fred Duval (Meteors, XIII Mystery) and Jean-Pierre Pécau (The Secret History), with art by Stevan Subric (Riddler: Year One), Moriarty: A Clockwork Empire combines stylish steam-punk with Author Conan Doyle’s iconic characters, Sherlock Holmes and Watson, as well as the gothic juggernaut, Mr. Hyde.

The first 48-page issue features three variant covers, by Lenka Simeckova, Andrea Olimpieri and Stevan Subric.

To be published as a four-issue series from February 2023, Moriarty: A Clockwork Empire opens in a London opium den, where a monster is killed by the police with seven bullets to the body.

Meanwhile, at the Diogenes club, an investigator and his partner thwart the Machiavellian plans of a card-playing automaton, and that evening the monster’s alter ego will come out of the hospital unscathed… and Holmes and Watson are on the case!

Born in 1965 in Rouen, France, Frédéric Duval (Fred Duval) first studied history. He completed his master’s degree by studying the caricatures of a newspaper during the Dreyfus Affair. His first book, 500 fusils, was published in 1995.

In 2008, for comics publisher Delcourt, he created the science fiction series Meteors, illustrated by Philippe Ogaki, before tackling an old dream with illustrator Zanzim: to adapt Tartuffe as a graphic novel.

The first volume of the speculative fiction series Nico was published by Dargaud in 2010, working with Philippe Berthet. In 2016, he wrote the tenth volume of XIII Mystery (Dargaud), under the direction of Jean Van Hamme.

2018 marked the release of his science fiction series, Renaissance (Dargaud; Europe Comics in English), alongside Emem and Fred Blanchard.

His most recent work is the masterful literary adaptation Nymphéas Noirs (Dupuis; Black Water Lilies, Europe Comics), illustrated by Didier Cassegrain, which earned a nomination at the 2020 Eisner Awards for Best Digital Comic, with another nomination for Didier Cassegrain for Best Painter/Digital Artist.

Jean-Pierre Pécau was born in Paris and lives in Saint Ouen. After studying history he began a career in teaching, but in 1980, changed careers, initially working for a role-playing import company, before taking his first steps in comics with Zentak.

Little Blade, Nash and his bestseller, L’Histoire secrète (The Secret History) followed; then, in 2010, he launched the series Jour D, with Fred Blanchard and Fred Duval. In 2003, he started a new series: Paris Maléfices. In 2014, Les 30 Deniers, Lignes de Front (Front Lines) and Wonderball followed.

In April 2018, Jean-Pierre Pécau published his first graphic novel, Cavalerie rouge (Red Cavalry), an adaptation of Isaac Babel’s masterpiece, followed by Le Cœur de ténèbres (The Heart of Darkness) with art by Benjamin Bachelier. In 2019, he launched a new series with Fred Duval and Colin Wilson, Nevada.

A prolific writer, he recently published Jeremiah Johnson (Sun) as well as L’Espion de César (The Spy of Caesar), Indochine (Indochina) (Delcourt), and Androïdes (Soleil).

Stevan Subic , best known in the English-speaking world for his work on DC Comics Riddler: Year One, was born in 1982 in Zrenjanin, Serbia, where he lives and still works.

He began drawing in 2009. He has received many awards for his work, including five Grand Prix awarded by various comic book festivals in Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia. In 2011, he won first prize in an international competition, organised by the city of Genoa, Conflicts War Balloons, awarded by a jury chaired by Sergio Toppi.

His winning comic, Conflitti and the Tracce suite have been republished and rewarded many times, both in Serbia and abroad.

Since then, Stevan has worked with various magazines in Serbia and, as an illustrator and graphic designer, creates magazine covers, promotional and theatrical posters. His works were the subject of the exhibition “Trois générations de bandes dessinées Serbes moderne” at the French Institute in Belgrade in 2013. The same year, some of his art was published in Balkan Comic Connections.

He also worked with Gianfranco Manfredi on Adam Wild in 2014 and drew all three original volumes of M.O.R.I.A.R.T.Y, published by Delcourt.

MORIARTY: A CLOCKWORK EMPIRE #1
Writer: Fred Duval & Jean-Pierre Pécau
Artist: Stevan Subic
Letterer: Lauren Bowes
Publisher: Titan Comics
FC, 48pp, $4.99, On Sale: February 2023

Cover A: Lenka Simeckova
Cover B: Andrea Olimpieri
Cover C: Stevan Subric

Sample pages from the French edition…

John Freeman

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: Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News

Tags: Delcourt, downthetubes News, Fred Duval, Jean-Pierre Pécau, Lenka Simeckova, M.O.R.I.A.R.T.Y, Moriarty: A Clockwork Empire, SF Comics, Sherlock Holmes, Steampunk, Stevan Subric, Titan Comics