Irene Adler (and Jane)

We present today a new late Victorian-era thriller comic series:

Adler #1 
by Lavie Tidhar and Paul McCaffery
Titan Comics

For Sherlock, there was only ever one woman - now Irene Adler is on a mission to take down Moriarty! It's the League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen, as Adler teams up with a host of famous female faces from science, history and literature to defeat the greatest criminal mastermind of all time!

The comic series includes Jane Eyre among the Extraordinary Gentlewomen. Comicon (and here) has further information:

Olly MacNamee: Adler, your new series from Titan Comics, along with writer and co -creator Lavie Tidhar, is out this February and promises to be something of a “League of Extraordinary Gentlewoman” with a kick-ass cast of some pretty formidable literary heroines. All seen through the perspective of one Jane Eyre.
It must have been great fun to draw and work to your strengths too, given your interests in Victoriana and particularly steam punk.
Paul McCaffrey: I really enjoy the steam punk aesthetic. There’s something very appealing about mashing up such a pivotal era in our history with cool, fantastical elements to create a vision of a future that never was.

OM: There are a lot of interesting characters who make an appearance in the first issue but have you got a particular favourite? For me, it has to be Estella Havisham, daughter of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations.
PM: To be honest, I really like all five of the main characters. Adler is a little cool and aloof, perhaps, always on the edge of impatience, constantly calculating her next move and filled with a determination to do whatever is necessary. Jane Eyre is a sort of Watson to Adler’s Holmes. The hidden world of the story is revealed to us through her eyes. She’s a warmer character than Adler but no less ready for a fight. Havisham does whatever she wants whenever she wants and doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Everything feels like a bit of a game, to her, a game she relishes. Ayesha demands a mixture of respect and fear. Without giving too much away, I can completely understand  her actions and motivation. She’s probably the heroine of her own story… but there’s still a delicious streak of cruelty running through her. Carmilla is perhaps the most mysterious of the main players. She appears devoted to her mistress above all else but how exactly did their paths cross? Of course, this is just how I feel about them. Lavie may see them all in a vastly different way!

ComicWatch adds:

Jane Eyre acts as the audience POV character. Returning to England after been injured as a nurse on the front of the Boer War, She’s introduced to Irene Adler by a mutual friend (Lady Havisham, a scientist/inventor) who thinks Jane and Irene could make good roommates. Adler immediately deduces John’s — er, Jane’s — occupation and expounds upon her own quirky habits: keeping unorthodox hours, playing piano (she explicitly states “not the violin”), and throwing knives when she’s thinking. (Yes, Holmes shoots a pistol instead.) Tidhar’s narrative seems obsessed (generally and here in particular) with both  being and not being a Sherlock Holmes story. Jane isn’t Watson. She’s a nurse. Adler isn’t Holmes. She plays piano. They’re women.  (Lillian Hochwender)