Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Moriarty #9Moriarty The Lazarus Tree #9
Image Comics
Corey, Diecidue, Freeze & Lanphear

Moriarty unravels another mystery in the big finale to the Lazarus Tree arc. As we've seen in the previous arc of Moriarty, the good professor has a lot of the same detective skills as his old arch nemesis, Sherlock Holmes. The book lets the reader in on a lot of the clues that Moriarty picked up on as the story unfolded, which makes it almost a must to go back and re-read the previous issues in the arc. This is a smart and well thought out comic book. I simply hope there are more in the pipeline.

The book opens with Moriarty getting held at gunpoint by Blair as they get into a rowboat. Basically, the book turns into something very reminiscent of Heart of Darkness or Apocalypse Now as the pair makes their way into the unknown at the end of the river. What waits for them is the mysterious Morely, who may or may not be dead.

The book does a good job of playing to the strengths of Moriarty. He's not quite a good guy or a villain, but he is definitely a character that can get under people's skin and he can get to the bottom of things quickly. Death seems to surround him and he seems to welcome this. This book takes an interesting turn after Blair and Moriarty finds the camp on the river in what is an excellent ending to the book.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork is good as usual. The characters push across a lot of their personalities through their facial expressions. You won't catch Moriarty smiling and I would think you wouldn't expect to, based on the dialogue. The ending has virtually no dialogue as the artwork carries the ending to the book and is relied on exclusively to surprise the reader. This is done very well, but it is tough to see how exactly Moriarty escapes. Overall, I loved the artwork for this dark tale, though the rougher style may not be to everyone's taste.

Moriarty is a detective story, but done with darkness, villains and elements that could reside in the occult. The book has a thick plot and is a very hefty read. This is simply not the kind of book that you can skim through and get the gist of the story. You need to pay attention and take apart the pieces. I enjoyed this series and the ending to this arc. I think if you like to read something a little bit more intellectually stimulating then this is something to pick up.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles