A Study In Whatever Color You Want
Thoughts on A Study in Emerald, with a dash of Business talk.
How do you define a Good comic book? If you have read my previous articles I’ve mentioned I don’t believe there is no Good or Bad comic book. At least not for everyone. But I want to try to define what is a Good comic book. Please, do not worry nor leave, because the definition I’m about to give you is subjective itself. It could change from reader to reader. Let me explain.
I consider a Good comic book “one that gives you what you expected”. I believe expectation is important because it is the first benchmark you use for the quality of what you read. If you expected a lot and it doesn’t deliver, you may label it as bad or lackluster. But if you expected nothing, you may label the same comic book as a pleasant surprise. It is not a coincidence that there are a lot of sayings and quotes about “expecting less” as a key towards happiness.
A recent example is the appearance of Mephisto in Wandavision and the (maybe unreasonable) expectation of many people towards the finale of the show. If you expected Mephisto, Dr. Strange, and Sue Storm to show up in this series, you may have felt disappointed and labeled it as “regular” or “bad”. I could write a whole post about expectation but let’s return to comics.
Expanding my idea, I consider an Excellent comic book is “one that gives you what you expected, and more”. This kind of book goes as far as redefining your expectations and brings your way something new, unseen. Because if you think about it, your expectations are based on previous experiences, so getting something completely new is going one step further. And because of natural human curiosity, we want to know what comes next.
Nowadays in business, it is all about creating needs. Do not expect the customer to come and buy what you sell, you need to make them buy. Make them love your product and always be on the lookout for more. This implies having long lines in your shops, having exclusives, creating dependency, and a couple more morally gray things. It is all about creating expectations and awareness.
Another important concept is taking something that is already there and transforming it. You don’t necessarily need to create or invent something new, but focus on giving your public a better product and experience. Use what is there as a benchmark and surpass it. In doing so, you can defy all expectations. Because the thing with taking what is already there is that people believe this story has already been told, and they do not expect you to deliver something new. And when you show them that they were wrong, that there is a lot more to tell, it surprises and hooks them. Think of Instagram and TikTok. They tell a better story than Myspace and Vine.
Going back to comic books, this leads me to a story that combines two acclaimed authors, works, and worlds. Sherlock Holmes + Cthulhu. Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft. Mystery, suspense, horror, sci-fi. A Study in Emerald (Neil Gaiman and Rafael Albuquerque, 20181) promises a Sherlockian murder mystery, with elements from Lovecraftian mythology. A transformation of two pre-existing concepts into something else. Something more.
The following opinion will contain (mild) spoilers so if you do not like to know anything (besides what I just told you) before reading a book, I suggest reading it first.
First, this book works as a mystery and as a world-building masterpiece. It creates a perfect mix of the elements considered. The world presented in the book feels organic, unlike other products2 that just force two elements together. In this case, the Sherlock and Cthulhu mythos could happen during the Victorian Era and it feels like both worlds were designed to be connected.
Mystery
A friend told me that what makes a mystery great is reading a story where you also play the role of the detective. We are not just following one, we as readers are solving the case. You can see clues on the pages, suspicious movements, and subtle words that hint at who the assassin is and what is coming. And if you are clueless, like me, you can re-read the book and notice all the hints presented previously and think: holy shit, this was so clear all along!
There is a risk of basing your story on previously told stories, which is being repetitive. The “A Study in Scarlet” story has been adapted multiple times, even by the BBC Sherlock show, so it is really easy to become one of the bunch. This book almost fell in this category. There were parts of it where I was disappointed thinking it was going on the same path as all the other adaptations did. Fortunately, it saves itself towards the third act and adds to the existing mythology in a really interesting way.
World-Building and More
I also want to praise the world-building. Not only are you interested in the characters presented, but about the world. The story proposes a world with deep changes in how the royalty system worked in the late nineteenth century so you can theorize for hours how this world could develop in the following centuries. This book makes you want to discover more of this world: what creatures live here, what is happening in the rest of the world outside London, what happens next.
It is important to mention his book relies heavily on the reader’s knowledge of Sherlock and/or Cthulhu to make an impression. A person who doesn’t know or care for these stories might not get the full impact this book can deliver. I would still recommend reading it and after finishing the book go to the internet to find the things you may not have caught. I don’t think this aspect subtracts from the book because it is aimed towards fans of this genre. And once you read all the references, easter eggs, and subtle nodes included it leaves you wanting more.
Overall, the book contains multiple plot twists, references, symbolism, a murder mystery, a new world, and an open ending that makes you think about this book for days after reading it, craving for more.
In conclusion, this book was something else. The creators took something already there, expanded it, and created a new need for the readers. I did not expect to like it this much, but here we are.
I believe today's lesson is to consider using the resources you already have and transform them, making them better. People are focused on inventing something, on leaving a mark, but they ignore the work already done. Or worst, they dismiss it saying “someone already thought of that” when they should be thinking: “someone already thought of that, what can I do to make it better?”
Housekeeping!
I want to thank the TO Comic Book Club for the discussion we had on this book! It allowed me to express my ideas about it, listen to different points of view, and explore every aspect of the story. If you want a place where you can weekly read books and discuss them I recommend you check them out on Twitter.
See you next time! Stay awesome and go read something. Also, go watch Hawkeye Ep. 4, it’s full of surprises!!
Based on a short story written by Neil Gaiman in 2003.
For example, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016).