The Batman/Sherlock Holmes Crossover You Always Wanted (Is Not This One)

When you inquire idiosyncratic to sanction the top detective successful fiction, they volition apt reply 1 of 2 ways. The classical lit fans volition accidental Sherlock Holmes, and the comic publication nerds volition accidental Batman. Both men person go icons for their fancy duds, large brains, and memorable sidekicks. Sure would beryllium bully if they could squad up, huh?

Fortunately, small things similar the laws of clip and abstraction are nary obstruction for DC Comics. In Detective Comics #572, to commemorate the series’ 50th anniversary, we got not lone a emotion missive to the rubric arsenic a whole, but the team-up of 2 centuries…ish. And it’s a Christmas communicative to boot, truthful it’s seasonal, too!

We commencement not with Batman but with Slam Bradley, a detective quality conceived by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who appeared successful aboriginal issues of Detective Comics. Slam has nary sooner met his latest lawsuit — an Englishman, Morgan, who claims his fiancée was conscionable kidnapped — erstwhile a radical of thugs with instrumentality guns burst done the door. Batman and Robin to the rescue!

Jason, PLEASE.

Unfortunately, Morgan ends up getting kidnapped anyway, truthful the Dynamic Duo heads disconnected to London portion Bradley continues the probe stateside. He makes the rounds of Gotham’s crummiest bars and neighborhoods until helium finds the missing miss and helps her escape. Once they are safe, she reveals that Morgan’s existent sanction is Moriarty, and that her ain sanction is Mary Watson. Dun dun DUN!

Now the Holmes worldly genuinely begins. In London, yet different detective, the Elongated Man, shows up. Why Elongated Man? He had a long-running back-up diagnostic successful Detective Comics starting successful 1964. He stumbles upon different Moriarty (not the kidnap victim), who is determined to destruct a precocious rediscovered Sherlock Holmes manuscript.

The manuscript, “The Adventure of the Red Leech,” tells the communicative of a young doc who has been having representation lapses. Since helium is astir to articulation Queen Victoria’s aesculapian team, helium wants to fig retired what’s going connected arsenic stealthily arsenic imaginable truthful arsenic to debar scandal.

This is simply a existent dainty for Holmes fans, I indispensable say. You’ve got each the elements of the classical stories — Holmes waking up Watson successful the mediate of the night, “the crippled is afoot,” etc. — and the creation is bully and shadowy. There’s adjacent a wink-and-nod to fans of the Basil Rathbone films: the client’s name, Nigel Brewster, is simply a notation to Nigel Bruce, who played Watson successful those films. I conjecture Arthur Conan Doyle is simply a psychic successful the DC universe?

The solution to this enigma is rather weird, but successful keeping with a superhero comic. Brewster’s wife, an cause of Moriarty’s, had been keeping him docile with a leech with anesthetic properties. With Brewster indisposed, a doppelgänger could get to the queen, termination her with a leech, and let Moriarty’s allies to instrumentality power.

So wherefore did this evil Moriarty descendant privation to destruct the manuscript? He was acrophobic it would extremity radical disconnected to his ain plans to termination the queen (Elizabeth II this time, obviously). We past spot our heroes teaming up to halt his schemes and rescue his hapless cousin, the not-evil Moriarty. It each culminates successful this fantastic representation of Batman punting a weaponry disguised arsenic a publication portion the royals look connected successful terror.

Batman says: Literacy is for LOSERS!

But there’s 1 much surprise! Batman had antecedently discovered that a Scotland Yard detective was successful connected the crippled and tries to pursuit him down. Instead, helium receives a timely assistance from an aged antheral with a deerstalker. Yes, Sherlock Holmes is live and well! In 1987! You’ll ne'er conjecture however that happened!

Batman says: Smoking is COOL!

You heard it present first, folks. Sherlock Holmes discovered immortality done beekeeping and surviving successful Tibet. Who knew it was that easy? (He does not look to person shared this concealed with Watson, who is dormant and is the nonstop ancestor of our kidnap victim, Mary.)

So that’s our large crossover. What did you think?

This is perfectly not the communicative I was expecting from the cover, which features a young Holmes sitting astatine a array portion Batman reads implicit his shoulder. I truly thought I’d beryllium getting thing akin to the Batman: The Brave and the Bold occurrence “Trials of the Demon!” wherever Bats and Holmes (and Watson) teamed up acknowledgment to the magic of clip travel. I can’t judge a comic publication screen lied to me.

“Read that portion next, Dad!”

Though it’s revealed that Holmes was benignant of orchestrating things from down the scenes the full time, determination is precise small successful the mode of an existent team-up. Instead, this was a tribute to Detective Comics itself, with Holmes much similar the prima of an aged TV amusement making a cameo to springiness his blessing to the remake: aft all, the stars of Detective Comics each beryllium a large indebtedness to the world’s astir fashionable detective character.

It’s inactive a amusive story. But if you’re present solely for the Batman/Holmes crossover, you’ll astir apt beryllium disappointed.

Lucky for us, the past fewer Sherlock Holmes stories are entering the U.S. nationalist domain arsenic of January 1, 2023, truthful the Doyle property volition nary longer person grounds to propulsion nonsense stunts similar suing Miramax and Netflix for daring to springiness Holmes an emotion. (I could explicate wherefore the full premise of these lawsuits is simply a elephantine load, but that is not my intent present today, truthful you’re disconnected the hook.) Hopefully, this means creators from companies large and tiny volition present consciousness escaped to instrumentality Holmes successful adjacent wilder, much originative directions than ever before!