Holmes vs. Houdini #3 keeps Houdini and Holmes quarreling—and fumbling—as they try to discover who set up the camera in Houdini’s theater and why, and how this person murdered a man without being seen by anyone.
For the first portion of the book, the two are separate, which means fewer insults are exchanged. When they do meet, Bess, Houdini’s wife, continues to be the voice of reason here. Here, unlike earlier, she is entirely annoyed. In fact, Holmes and Houdini’s reactions to her make them seem more like stubborn little boys than mature adult professionals. Unfortunately, it is not easy to follow the men as they track down the clues—by the end, Holmes is holding on to a suspect, and it is unclear how he came to suspect this individual. It seems possible that, like Conan Doyle, Del Col and McCreery are hiding some clues from the audience. In any case, the mystery is far from solved and Houdini continues to be a target for the mysterious “spiritualist” murderer.
Furuzono and Oliva continue to draw and color their men far too similarly. It continues to be difficult to figure out which character is which. In particular, is the grey-haired man Holmes deals with near the end the same grey-haired man Houdini talked to last time? Or someone else? Also, there several panels appear to be out of place panel out of place as Houdini is suddenly fighting with someone before he is shown going back to see him—and there is no indication or reason for a time-shift at that point. This is a strange glitch and adds to the general confusion about motives and methods.
The premise of Holmes vs. Houdini is great; I would love to love it, but at this point, I am more confused than enthralled.
Writer: Anthony Del Col, Conor McCreery
Art: Carlos Furuzono
Colors: Aikau Oliva
Letters: Rob Steen