BY Matt Vroom (@TheMattVroom)

Rivers of London: Detective Stories, is a comic book series published by Titan Comics. It was written by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel, and art was done by Lee Sullivan and Luis Guerrero. It is now available on Comixology.

Rivers of London is based on the Galaxy National Book Awards nominated book of the same name, also written by Ben Aaronovitch. The name of the book was changed to “Midnight Riot” here in the United States. It was published in 2011 and has received some critical acclaim. This seems to be the common trend with Titan Comics. They like to get critically acclaimed stories and turn them into comics. So if you always were interested in reading an award winning book, but you aren’t into reading books without pictures, then you could wait for the Titan Comics release of the same story.

Here is the synopsis of the story from Titan Comics:

Peter Grant is one of London’s Finest, a member of the Metropolitan Police Service. However, while most of the capital’s PCs are out chasing pickpockets and helping vomit-soaked hen parties, Peter is well underway to becoming London’s second wizarding cop. Working out of the secretive Folly in the heart of the city, he and his colleagues take on those crimes that might be described as weird, spooky, or frozen-hand-around-the-heart terrifying.

Having garnered a fair amount of experience and knowledge, Peter is also in line for a promotion and is undergoing the process that could make him a Detective…

Now onto the review.

This comic was interesting. It is like “Sherlock” meets “Troll Hunters”. You get placed right in the middle of an investigation dealing with a break-in at an art museum. You follow the clues that Peter, the main character, points out to you.

The story jumps around a bit between the investigation, and the report Peter gives to his superior. It wasn’t very confusing as the whole story is just a recount of the investigation.

What was interesting about this investigation is that It involves beings that are very old, and basically mirror images of their past self. You really should read the Wikipedia article on the book to understand that in this world there exists magic and such.

I liked the direction the comic took, and I would give it six out of seven capes. It was a decent story, and had good character development. The two art styles went well with each other once you understand that they were meant to distinguish the different time periods that were introduced in the story.

If you guys have a comic that you would like us to review feel free to email Matt at hello@mattvroom.com, or Dave at dave@superherospeak.com.

Matt Vroom – Co-host, Content Creator, and Comic Reviewer for SuperHeroSpeak.com.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @themattvroom

See Matt’s Comic Book Work: www.vroomation.com

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