Review: The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #1

The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde is a concoction mixing Jekyll and Hyde with Jack the Ripper. This sounds like an interesting idea, but first impressions leave me worried about the future of this four issue series. The writer, Cole Haddon, is a new face and it shows—The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #1 is his first published work. The issue is very loquacious and the majority of dialogue never grabbed my interest. I am willing to give another chance in hopes all failings are due to a need to setup the story, but I am very hesitant.

The basic idea surrounding The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde is that an inspector, Thomas Adye, is working the case of Jack the Ripper.  Adye finds the case difficult to comprehend from a certain—not so physically possible—perspective and ends up asking the imprisoned Jekyll for help. These moments between Adye and Jekyll are unquestionably the most fascinating, but they still fail to grab more than a few figments of interest. It's hard to do much when one character is imprisoned, so I'm hoping future issues utilize this unique partnership with more than just detached conversations.

On a positive note, the art is fantastic in most cases and really suits the theme and Victorian era. My only issue is the simplistic style can take away from the menace of a specific character. If you're interested in tales set in Victorian England—or the mash up of Jekyll/Hyde and Jack the Ripper intrigues you— The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde may be worth a shot. If you don't fall in that crowd, it may be best to save your money for something else—like Invincible, or what I prefer calling, "Not Vincible."

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