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Roger Langridge and Andy Hirsch Discuss Their BOOM! Book THE BAKER STREET PECULIARS

Find out more about this upcoming mini-series and get an exclusive look at the interior pages!

Coming to BOOM! Studios in March is a new mini-series which takes a spin on the iconic world of Sherlock Holmes. Writer Roger Langridge and artist Andy Hirsch are teaming up for the four-issue mini-series THE BAKER STREET PECULIARS and the two creators talked to us about the upcoming book.

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COMIC VINE: What's The Baker Street Peculiars all about?

ROGER LANGRIDGE: In a nutshell, it’s a riff on the Baker Street Irregulars of Sherlock Holmes lore–except our kids, the Peculiars, specialize in the weird, uncanny and supernatural cases that Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot bargepole. Their first case is called The Case of the Cockney Golem, which should set the tone nicely.

CV: What can you tell us about Mrs. Hudson?

RL: Without completely spoiling the ending of our first issue, you mean? I can tell you that there’s more to her in our stories than Arthur Conan Doyle let on. We pick up the story in the 1930s, when Mrs. H is in her dotage…but she has quite a past. (And still plenty of future, come to that!) She’s sort of the lynchpin of our whole story. She’s full of surprises!

CV: Andy, what can you tell us about her character design and her look?

ANDY HIRSCH: Despite being an octogenarian, Mrs. Hudson is still quite active both physically and mentally. She's spry, sly, and very put together. She's also responsible for Holmes's look and dresses him to play right to the public's expectations, classic from the deerstalker on down. Hat and cloak aside, though, like many longtime duos the two have started to look a bit alike.

CV: What do you find appealing about the concept of Sherlock Holmes?

RL: He’s one of the great characters of fiction. Rather brilliantly, Conan Doyle nearly always showed us Holmes from the point of view of Watson, so we always got to see him as other saw him – which allows us to project anything we like onto his inner life. His unknowability makes him, paradoxically, universally relatable. (And that plays right into our hands!)

AH: I think most relevant to our story is how adaptable the character is, finding a way to solve any puzzle, infiltrate any group, and survive any situation. You've got to be able to change a little to stick around for 130 years. And personally, the idea of someone whose greatest skill is paying attention really appeals to my detail-oriented side.

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CV: Andy, for some time you've been working on Garfield and other licensed books. Tonally and artistically, how do they differ from The Baker Street Peculiars?

AH: There's a tremendous amount of freedom in getting to design the look of a book from the get-go—I'm stretching artistic muscles I almost forgot I had! The Baker Street Peculiars gets much moodier than my usual licensed fare—that's the old East End for you—and I especially relish the opportunity to pour on the shadows. On the more technical end, because of his genesis in newspaper gag strips, a character like Garfield is made for a certain type of storytelling whereas Baker Street lets me be much more varied and dynamic in my approach. Good thing, too, because Roger's script runs the gamut from breakneck action to beat-by-beat jokes to genuine emotion, and I need to keep up.

CV: How do you tackle a story that is all-ages and try to give it a broad appeal without alienating readers of a certain age group?

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RL: I don’t think there’s any magic formula. I just try to write something I would want to read, and would have wanted to read as a kid. The best all-ages comics work on multiple levels at once: plenty of action and slapstick and relatable characters for the kids, and some emotional resonance and presumption of intelligence and a high level of craft for the adults to appreciate. And, ideally, both audiences get something out of the whole, each element playing off of the others…because most adults are basically kids at heart, and all kids want to read something that doesn’t talk down to them. It’s a balancing act, for sure, but it’s extremely satisfying when you can pull it off!

CV: Without spoiling anything, are there any moments maybe in the first issue that really stand out to either of you?

RL: I’m thrilled with how Andy has realized our villain, Chippy Kipper, the Cockney Golem. He looks better than I could possibly have hoped. And he’s brought old, pre-Blitz London to life brilliantly—the chase that kicks off the first issue is an absolute delight.

AH: It's got to be the title page spread. I love the gags that Roger wrote for the crowds we open in, and getting to draw a giant, animated statue rampaging in city streets is a treat. I'm doing a lot of research on things that end up wrecked.

Thanks to Roger Langridge and Andy Hirsch for answering our questions and make sure to check out THE BAKER STREET PECULIARS when it hits stores on March 9.