Moriarty the Patriot Vol. 1by Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 9 Long before he was the arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, the boy who became known as Moriarty was a peasant who was, alongside his brother, was adopted into a rich -- and highly abusive -- family ... one which he, his brother, and his adoptive Moriarty brother subsequently murdered. Taking on the identity of one of the murdered family members, "William James Moriarty" grows up top become a professor at a young age. But that's not his only job! Moriarty, with help from his brothers and a couple other friends, is also a "consulting detective", intent on restoring equality between the classes -- by any means necessary. In this volume, a greedy land-owner and a corrupt official are taken down.This series somehow retains the general spirit of Moriarty -- a sort of dark mirror to Holmes, equal in intelligence and ability (indeed, he does a few things that we've seen Holmes himself do) yet far more vicious -- while turning him into a Robin Hood-like hero. Maybe it makes me a terrible person, but I'd say he's less a murderer, and more a man at war with the aristocracy, freeing the commoners from abuses that the police can't save them from. While Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Moriarty seems utterly without compassion, here we see it in spades -- for the less fortunate. To the abusive rich, he is not just ruthless, but vindictive. I normally don't get into vengeful stories at all, and believe in due process, but I must confess I find a strange appeal here, as the aristos are presented as so caricaturishly awful! Once upon a time, I would have said that the magnitude of that awfulness is just a contrivance to make us side with Moriarty, but recent history has taught me that there are people truly that awful in the world who are shielded by corruption in the legal system; not that I'm calling for anyone's heads in real life, mind, but I also can't deny the catharsis here in the safety of fiction. There was a scene that made me hesitant: when Moriarty expresses disgust at the notion of a student having sex in the dorm, but I get the impression it's less about Moriarty being a prude, and more about suspecting the young man has no respect for his momentary lover. And it helps, of course, that the art is quite fetching, with Moriarty and his make companions all having fine bishounen qualities. In particular, we get a delicious bit of eye candy with rougish Moran (who loves women but seems respectful about it) in the third story. I also appreciate that Moriarty does show compassion to a noble who exemplifies the quality he feels the nobility should have -- he does feel there is potential for goodness. It's more like he's looking to weed out the ranks, not eliminate them entirely. And I like that this is a sort of inversion of the Holmes stories, in that, instead of it being about someone following clues to find a culprit (though there is still some of that), it's more about Moriarty plotting murders in ways that would keep anyone from finding out what really happened, staging everything to look like accidents or suicides. This work makes we want to go back and re-read the original stories from this new perspective, and I certainly want to read more of this version! Written: December 6, 2020
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