After writing all the many and conflicting versions of the legendary Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, beloved author Douglas Adams created Dirk Gently- a detective with a belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, a unique relationship with the laws of probability and physics, and a love of cats and pizza.
In his first-ever comic series, Dirk has been forced to leave his beloved England behind, coming to the too-sunny, too-cheery, and altogether too-bizarre-even-for-Dirk city of San Diego, California, where he gets embroiled in three separate (or are they?) cases involving reincarnated Egyptians, golden cell phones, and copycat killers. All this in a new town seemingly incapable of making even a single proper cup of tea.
After writing all the many and conflicting versions of the legendary Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, beloved author Douglas Adams created Dirk Gently- a detective with a belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, a unique relationship with the laws of probability and physics, and a love of cats and pizza.
In his first-ever comic series, Dirk has been forced to leave his beloved England behind, coming to the too-sunny, too-cheery, and altogether too-bizarre-even-for-Dirk city of San Diego, California, where he gets embroiled in three separate (or are they?) cases involving reincarnated Egyptians, golden cell phones, and copycat killers. All this in a new town seemingly incapable of making even a single proper cup of tea.
Industry Reviews
LIBRARY JOURNAL -- As the quirky "holistic
detective" enshrined in popular Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy) novels, Dirk Gently takes on multiple crises by pursuing
random leads with the confidence that the "interconnectedness of all
things" will bring about resolution. Now Dirk has relocated to San Diego,
where his crises du jour include reincarnated Egyptians, serial killers,
and (as with the first novel) a time traveler with an agenda. The result is
great fun, largely because of the idiosyncratic personalities. Everyone has
peculiar aspects beyond central casting, from Dirk and his married lesbian
sidekicks to the Egyptians, the serial killers, the time traveler, and a
homeless man with a golden cell phone. The art somewhat resembles Rob Guillory's
work for Chew but less grotesque, and Guillory contributed several of
Gently's single issue covers. Adams enthusiasts, however, may feel that
the plot develops too straightforwardly and that this Dirk bears minor visual
resemblance to the original character description.
VERDICT
Not all aficionados of the novels may find this Dirk caper up to their
expectations, but others will enjoy Ryall's goofy mix of alliances, diverse
characters, time-and-space bending, and synergy of all parts at the
end.-MC