Warren Ellis proclaims Aetheric Mechanics to be a “graphic novella.” At just 44 pages, this volume by Ellis and illustrator Gianluca Pagliarani is a fairly slim book, but one that manages to provide a satisfying, dense story that is packed with plenty of ideas despite its short length.

I hesitate to say that it’s packed with plenty of original ideas, because that’s not really the point of Ellis’s story. Instead, the writer combines several different pre-existing ideas to produce a unique and unpredictable book that channels a variety of diverse influences into its pages.

The core concept is fairly straightforward. It’s a steampunk take on Sherlock Holmes (reimagined here by Ellis as “Sax Raker”), with a central whodunit mystery that has a story hook that feels classic for this genre.

“The Case of the Man Who Wasn’t There” sees Raker and his sidekick, Dr. Watcham, investigate an apparent murder that is said to have been committed by a man who flickers in and out of vision at the scene of the crime. Secondary details of the story throw plenty of other elements into the mix.

There’s a disturbing war story in the form of Dr. Watcham’s flashbacks to his recent period in the armed services; there’s a noir-esque romantic subplot involving a mysterious femme fatale from Raker’s past; there are sci-fi elements that make reference to cutting-edge scientific concepts (including the CERN Large Hadron Collider); and there’s even a Japanese monster-movie influence with bizarre scenes of giant robots laying waste to cities à la Godzilla.

Despite featuring so many seemingly incongruous elements, it’s an elegant story that pays as much attention to its characters as to its fantastical ideas. One of Ellis’s strengths has always been his ability to find a distinctive voice for his characters, and he captures the refined, quick-minded intelligence of Conan Doyle’s most famous creation well here.

Sax Raker’s rapport with Dr. Watcham is also highly enjoyable, with Watcham’s recent wartime experiences giving the detective’s sidekick a rougher edge than Sherlock Holmes fans may be used to (at one point, Ellis shatters the genteel Edwardian atmosphere with a hilariously foul-mouthed outburst from Watcham, who has absent-mindedly regressed to his army persona).

The book’s artwork is also strong, with Gianluca Pagliarani and Chris Dreier illustrating the book in a highly detailed, uncoloured style. I was already aware of this art team from their work on Ellis’s Ignition City, but these visuals are far more satisfying.

Perhaps the black-and-white presentation of the art helps to draw attention to the finer details of the linework, but I was hugely impressed by the visual complexity of the book. Whether it’s the detailed renderings of Raker’s apartment or the slick design of the book’s steampunk accoutrements (such as hovering motor-cabs, anachronistically-modified battleships, and floating military platforms), Pagliarani has clearly invested a lot of time and effort in every panel.

Anyone who might be put off this book because it’s black-and-white should think again. This format seems to be the perfect for Pagliarani. To colour his artwork here would be to ruin it. My only real problems with the book come with the ending--and even then, it’s only partially unsatisfying, rather than a complete letdown.

Without giving too much away, the fact that Ellis is mixing up several different genres and story ideas plays an important part in the book’s resolution, with a twist at the end of the story that calls much of what has gone before into question in quite a Postmodern manner. Whilst I quite enjoyed the development, I can see how it might be off-putting for readers who don’t like to have their expectations subverted quite so completely.

I also found the ending to be a little sudden. The final pages feel quite dense in terms of exposition--as though Ellis suddenly realised that he only had a few pages left to conclude his story. Also, the climactic actions of the book’s protagonist don’t feel as though they’re given enough time to sink in before the story is over, with an abruptness to the final pages that doesn’t sit easily with the elegance of the rest of the book. After reading what turned out to be the final panel, I fully expected there to be more story pages to give the book a more considered ending.

Despite these slight problems, Aetheric Mechanics is still a highly enjoyable story that has some fun by mixing up various genres and throwing its Sherlock Holmes analogue into a story with a distinctive sci-fi/steampunk flavour. I’d love to see more of this kind of thing from both Ellis and Pagliarani.

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