Warren Ellis' Apparat books were supposed to be out in mid-November, but Frank Ironwine is the only one I've actually seen on sale, and it only turned up last week, so that's the one you're getting.

Apparat is an imprint of Avatar created solely for the purpose of these four one-shots.  The high concept was to do a mock fifth-week event, in which the non-existent Apparat publisher would launch four non-existent titles.  Which is not to say that this is an incomplete story - it isn't.  It's the complete first issue story which introduces Frank Ironwine, a character designed to star in his own ongoing series (although he'll never get the chance).

On a slightly more complex level, the Apparat books aren't just any four random concepts.  They're supposed to represent the sort of books we might have if the other pulp genres had survived, instead of being wiped off the map by superheroes.  As Ellis is the first to acknowledge, this is not an original concept.  But there's still plenty of mileage in it.  Ellis' take is that the pulps already went in for a degree of oddity and heightened reality even without getting into superhero territory.  So what we have is a series of skewed takes on pre-existing genres.

Frank Ironwine is a detective hero, and his comic is a police procedural.  The interest lies in what Ellis, and artist Carla Speed McNeill, can do within that format.  The result is a curious hybrid.  He's one part Sherlock Holmes, complete with incredibly heightened skills of forensic analysis.  He's one third stock Warren Ellis protagonist, complete with chainsmoking, heavy drinking, and tendency to fall asleep in dumpsters.  The opening pages are deeply unpromising, and give the impression that Ellis has hit the autopilot button again.

Fortunately, there's more to Ironwine than just Holmes filtered through Ellis' usual archetypes.  The stock Ellis character is a romantic idealist who has given up hope of seeing that reflected in the real world and become a hardened cynic, but retains his romantic inner core.  Ironwine doesn't have the cynicism - instead, he's all about empathy and identification with the other characters.  He's a great detective because he doesn't just analyse, he understands. 

It's beautifully simple, and it works.  McNeill is the right artist to sell a story which is about personalities, details and a suspiciously good detective operating in a real world environment - the token action sequence is a bit ropey, but the story is convincingly and subtly told.

A great little book - more than the curio that the Apparat concept might suggest.

Rating: A

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