The Many Paths

A hundred and some odd years ago, being a fan of Sherlock Holmes was a fairly uncomplicated thing. You waited for The Strand Magazine to come out, you enjoyed the latest episode in the life of the great detective, and that was pretty much that. Now, things are a little bit different.

The days of being fed new Holmes tales at regular intervals are long gone. Now, thanks to The Complete Sherlock Holmes and its brethren, you can pretty much read the entire saga in twenty-four hours if you set your mind to it. This leaves the fan of Sherlock Holmes with a whole lot of time to kill, if he or she thinks being a fan should involve anything more than occasionally tossing “Yep, them’s some good stories!” into the the conversation. And if one envisions the Sherlockian Canon as a central point on a chart with 360¾ worth of arrows radiating out from it in every possible direction, one can almost chart the paths Sherlockians follow after beginning at that single point. And no single Sherlockian ever limits their course to a single path.

Some may find the PBS series 1900 House a relevant entertainment, as a family forces themselves to live as the people of Holmes’s era lived. Others will find the new movie adaptation of Shaft a brash young spiritual cousin of Sherlock, as yet another unofficial detective takes the attitude that there are just some things the official police are unequipped to deal with. The variations in Sherlockian paths . . .

Oh Ye of Less Frontal Development . . .

I interrupt this issue for an announcement.

Moriarty is my name. Professor Moriarty. The real, original one, not that barely-controversial imitator who writes columns for Sherlock Holmes, The Detective Magazine. Imagine, the real Moriarty writing for a magazine named after that son of a bittern. If I wanted to influence some magazine’s editorial content, I’d have an air-gun bullet put in the head of the editor. Or just take control of the thing outright and change its name to Moriarty, The Arch-criminal Magazine. Watson blew the mathematics teacher cover story years ago, so why remain low profile? But, truth be known, I’d rather take over a journal with those cute little cartoons that Lee Shackleford draws on the cover. That Shackleford! His art reminds me of my own little drawings of Sherlock Holmes . . . without the daggers and nooses, of course. Lest you think I’ve gone all warm and fuzzy, however, let me assure you that praising Shackleford’s cartoons is not the reason I’ve forced my way into this journal. The true reason is this:

For my birthday this year, I’ve instructed my minions to make the November issue of this borderline production come out on October 31st. I’ve also instructed them to see that it comes out under the name The Moriarty & Moran Report. I’ve also instructed them to start pumping air-gun bullets into any writer who tries to publish another insipid article praising that so-called detective or his toad Watson in my special issue. Any writers wishing to curry my favor with articles on myself or Colonel Moran are invited to submit their wares before the last day of September, because I like that word “deadline” just a little too much. The columnist Sir Hugo, of course, can write whatever he pleases, as our mutual pacts with the Dark One have a “professional courtesy” clause.

I return you now to whatever Holmes twaddle the editor is forcing upon you currently.

. . . I shall never forget his incredible genius for combining all those threads into a single conceptual tapestry. While the Sherlockian world may never again be have the unified feel of those olden days, this brave new kaliedescope our hobby has become might profit from remembering that vision — a vision we’ve all had at one time or another.

And so, with that high-minded opening, let us adjourn to another issue of our own mutual foray into the realm Sherlockian.

Enjoy!

— The Editor-In-Chief