So, for those who don’t know, Ellery Queen is an amateur sleuth, created in 1928 or so, and has had numerous print, film, television and probably radio adventures. This issue of Maze celebrates his sixtieth anniversary and gives him a comic book adventure.

I’m vaguely sure Barr mentioned him earlier in the series as a fictional character, which makes his appearance here strange. It’s a gimmick for mystery geeks… not sure there are a lot of those but whatever, Barr actually does quite well.

He establishes the character’s modernized setting quickly, he gives Queen a fun relationship with the leads (Queen admires Jennifer’s abilities while Gabe follows him around like a lapdog) and produces a relatively interesting mystery.

I say relatively because it’s interesting while reading, but immediately forgettable. The guest stars aren’t the suspects–Barr focuses that spotlight on Queen.

Some very nice work from Hughes and Magyar too.

CREDITS

The English Channeler Mystery: A Problem in Deduction; writer, Mike W. Barr; penciller, Adam Hughes; inker, Rick Magyar; colorists, Carol Van Hook and Kevin Van Hook; letterers, Tom Addis and Vickie Williams; editor, David Campiti; publisher, Innovation Publishing.

Barr does a lot better introducing Jennifer to Gabe’s world than he did introducing Gabe to her’s. Gabe lives in a crappy New York apartment with an assortment of interesting neighbors. Bringing glamorous Jennifer into it provides a lot of amusement.

There’s also a lot of innuendo, whether it’s the actual sex or Gabe begging for sex. Barr does a good job with it–Gabe is back as Maze’s protagonist.

The mystery involves his neighbors, which also works out. It’s interesting to see a high profile private detective thrown into a more mundane crime setting. The regular police detectives sadly don’t appear; Barr establishes the new ones too fast.

Hughes and Magyar do well with the art. There are no fantastic locations, but Hughes has some nice summary pages of the investigation and its solution.

It’s a good issue. Barr’s excellent handling of the dating makes all the difference.

CREDITS

A New Lease on Death; writer, Mike W. Barr; penciller, Adam Hughes; inker, Rick Magyar; colorists, Carol Van Hook and Kevin Van Hook; letterer, Deborah Marks; editor, Michael Eury; publisher, Innovation Publishing.

One of the most impressive things about The Maze Agency is how Barr manages such a large cast. He has two leads, one or two regular supporting players and then all the murder suspects. In this issue, concerning a Jack the Ripper copycat, he has something like eight suspects.

Obviously, the art plays a real factor. Hughes has to make each of the suspects distinct but believable. There’s one page identifying all the eventual suspects–every person gets a little description–and it all matches up beautifully. The reader can infer based on profession and appearance (and name, if one’s really playing attention). Maze is a rather well-produced comic book, it couldn’t work otherwise.

The mystery itself is solid; lots of unexpected turns, lots of creative page composition to maximize the space. The flirtation between the leads, however, is still stalled. Barr is starting to strain credulity with it.

CREDITS

The Return of Jack the Ripper?; writer, Mike W. Barr; penciller, Adam Hughes; inker, Rick Magyar; colorist, Julia Lacquement; letterer, Deborah Marks; editor, Michael Eury; publisher, Comico.

The art is good here, it doesn’t even matter when it doesn’t make sense. Hughes comes up with these lovely pages for the investigation scenes–Gabe and Jennifer are touring New York state to question people–and the pages are simply wondrous. There’s this amazing condo in the middle of nowhere; Hughes’s page composition makes the mundane extraordinary.

As for the mystery, things get lost but it’s still decent. A prototype car disappears. Murder plays a factor eventually, since there’d be no danger otherwise. Barr and the artists handle all that aspect just fine. But Maze’s other plot–the romance–gets downgraded.

Gabe is something of a puppy dog here, following Jennifer around. Barr goes out of his way to make Gabe likable, but Jennifer’s just better than her colleagues. She’s not soluble enough.

Barr also reveals the issues take place a month apart, which is a nice device.

CREDITS

The Case of the Vanishing Vehicle; writer, Mike W. Barr; penciller, Adam Hughes; inker, Rick Magyar; colorist, Julia Lacquement; letterer, Deborah Marks; editor, Michael Eury; publisher, Comico.

Barr uses Gabriel–the amateur detective slash novelist-for-hire (there’s a great joke about Friday the 13th adaptations)–to bring the reader to the mystery. Then he has to bring Jennifer–the professional detective–into it. The approach lets him do some more character development without having to use too much exposition, but Barr often errs on the side of subtlety.

Maze is, at this point in the series, about the chemistry between Gabriel and Jennifer, who aren’t exactly dating. Not steady, anyway. So when Gabriel meets another suitor, it should give Barr the chance to explain some things. He doesn’t. He just lets it raise more questions.

The mystery this issue involves an old TV show, modeled on “The Honeymooners,” I think. It’s a solid mystery, with the ending unexpected (and, frankly, unexplored) and a good read.

The moody but exact art from Hughes and Magyar is lovely.

CREDITS

Murder–The Lost Episodes; writer, Mike W. Barr; penciller, Adam Hughes; inker, Rick Magyar; colorist, Julia Lacquement; letterer, Deborah Marks; editor, Michael Eury; publisher, Comico.

While it might be full of intrigue and murder–well, contain murder, not quite full of it–The Maze Agency is very clean. Adam Hughes and Rick Magyar’s Manhattan is so perfect, it’s almost dreamlike. That comment’s not a knock–the art is excellent. Some of the faces are bland, but otherwise Hughes does great work.

As for the rest of the issue, it’s a lot of fun. Mike W. Barr sets up his romantically possible protagonists, Jennifer and Gabriel, at alternating speeds. Their back stories come in throughout the issue; there’s no big exposition scene. Barr succeeds at keeping the dialogue natural for most of the comic.

The only time he lets the artificiality come through is the mystery resolution scene. The art and characters are good enough to smooth it over. Though there is one big bombshell I had to read a couple times to understand.

Maze’s charming.

CREDITS

The Adventure of the Rogue’s Gallery; writer, Mike W. Barr; penciller, Adam Hughes; inker, Rick Magyar; colorist, Julia Lacquement; letterer, Deborah Marks; editor, Michael Eury; publisher, Comico.