Why does "The Sign of Four" have the magic power to bring Sherlock Holmes to the world
It goes without saying that the protagonist Sherlock Holmes is talented and charming. In Conan Doyle's original novel "The Sign of Four", Holmes' skills are further demonstrated and supplemented, and the characterization is more complete.
But this is not the reason why Muxuxing is worried.
In addition to the charm of the protagonist and the interesting case itself, another feature of "The Sign of Four" is that the background of the story is no longer limited to Victorian London, but has expanded to the world in a mode that is almost like an adventure novel.
One thing that must be pointed out here is that the author Conan Doyle's writing style is very realistic.
What is impressive in the entire Sherlock Holmes series, besides the interesting twists and turns of the story and the real Sherlock Holmes, is Conan Doyle's equally moving description of Victorian London.
Some people love the magnificent and prosperous Tang Dynasty thousands of years ago, and naturally some people will never forget London after the Second Industrial Revolution: London shrouded in gray mist, production workers in front of sawmills, and steamboats flowing on the Thames...
That is the eternal sentiment hidden in the hearts of the people in the West District.
Muxiuxing decided to draw London like this.
This is not an easy thing to do.
Victorian Britain—it was a very special time.
At that time, the blue planet had not yet been unified, and Britain still represented the existence of the most developed country in the world. The birth of the Second Industrial Revolution created London's unparalleled prosperity, but also brought a London with a dark gray misty atmosphere.
How to transform Conan Doyle's realistic descriptions into the vivid London in the comics is one of the core issues of "The Sign of Four" comics, and also the most troubling problem for Muxiuxing in recent times.
Thinking of this, Mu Suxing rubbed his slightly swollen temples and his eyes fell on a pile of old reference books that were exclusively provided by the system mall.
—
When Muxiuxing locked himself in his office and devoted himself to studying the specific details of Victorian London, the official "Huaying Comics" also announced its choice:
The Huaying editorial department is very sorry for the adverse impact that "Taking Las Vegas" has brought to some minors in Xingning Province, and has permanently removed the comic "Taking Las Vegas" from shelves in Xingning Province as ordered. At the same time, in order to ensure the integrity of the comic magazine itself, starting from the fifth issue, the full version of "Huaying Comics" will only be distributed in areas outside Xingning Province.
As soon as the notice came out, many readers who were following the development of the incident were immediately shocked!
"???"
"To briefly summarize the main points of the announcement - Xingning Province official: The comic's subject matter is not right, it is recommended to be removed from the shelves and re-edited. Huaying Comics: Oh, then I won't sell it. Goodbye."
"… So the consequence of being banned from taking over is that not only will I not be able to count cards anymore, I won't even be able to see Sherlock Holmes anymore??? This is too cruel!"
"It's not just the Conquest and Sherlock Holmes series, okay? Don't forget that Zhuo Liming just signed with Huaying Comics yesterday. I cried. Can we still happily follow Mr. Zhuo's new works?"
"Does this count as preferring death to glory rather than living in disgrace? Star, can you be a little tougher? Storm is crying!"
…
If readers simply expressed their own opinions, the media, who were just watching from the sidelines, generally expressed their disapproval of Muxuxing's decision:
"This is the stupidest decision I have ever seen - if anyone pushed "Huaying Manga" to the edge of a cliff, then the one who really pushed "Huaying Manga" into the abyss was obviously themselves."
"Huaying oversimplifies cultural differences. Success in Xingning Province and success outside of Xingning Province are two completely different concepts. If readers in the western region were really so easily impressed, we wouldn't have racked our brains to expand the market but came up empty-handed."
…
While the outside world was in an uproar, at the same time, in the second-floor conference room of the Baiyun Comics editorial department.
The atmosphere inside was very depressing.
No matter how Baiyun Comics shows itself to be indifferent in front of outsiders, it is also a fact that Zhuo Liming's departure and the completion of "Returning Home on a Snowy Night" brought losses to Baiyun Comics.
"It makes no sense for Baiyun Comics to dwell on the past," a female editor in a light blue suit and light makeup stood up after a brief silence. "What we should consider now is how to recover the losses caused to the magazine—"
"But any cartoonist who can sustain sales is basically kept tightly under the thumb of the magazines they sign with. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to find opportunities to poach them."
"If you want to increase sales, there are more ways than just poaching," Jing Huahao said with a smile.
Everyone present looked at him at the same time.
“After all, readers are forgetful. No matter how much they like a comic, if they are suddenly no longer able to read it, they may feel itchy and lost for a while at first. But as time goes by, they will have seen so many interesting and new things that they will naturally lose interest and find it boring,” said Jing Huahao.
"To increase sales, you don't necessarily have to poach other people's authors - enriching the types of comics in the magazine and expanding the target audience of Baiyun Culture can also achieve the goal of increasing sales."
At this point, Jing Huahao raised the corners of his lips and smiled: "It just so happens that someone has already proved the possibility of attracting mystery readers through mystery comics—"
As if to cooperate with his "performance", as soon as Jing Huahao finished speaking, the door on the other side creaked open and a middle-aged man walked out.
"Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Zhuang Mingxu, a famous mystery novelist on Blue Star," Jing Huahao said, "In the coming period, Mr. Zhuang will assist our author in completing the creation of the mystery comic script—"
Then occupy the mystery comics market vacated by Sherlock Holmes.
…
Three days passed in a flash, and with the release of the fifth issue of "Huaying Comics", everyone learned about the sales of "Huaying Comics" in other provinces.
980,000 copies.
This is the answer given by "Huaying Comics".
With the previous brilliant start of "Huaying Comics", the current sales of nearly one million are not an exaggeration. However, considering that the publication of the weekly comics is in other provinces, this result can be said to be quite good among comic magazines that try to break cultural barriers.
but-
Putting down the fifth issue of "Huaying Comics" that he had just finished reading, Chang Tianlu shook his head silently, and a slight regret arose in his heart.
In this issue of the comic series, "Taking Las Vegas" continues the usual standard of the work, and the plot of "The Sign of Four" has become more attractive, but the plot has also become more... vulgar.
But the question is, without high-quality reasoning, is it still reasoning
Thinking of this, Chang Tianlu sighed deeply in his heart.
Maybe I'm just overthinking it
Come to think of it, how could the cultural barriers that have troubled countless literary and artistic workers for decades be easily broken by a new company that has just arrived
Time just continues to flow by slowly.
The sixth issue…
The seventh issue…
The eighth issue…
The readers who were discussing the Sherlock Holmes series and The Fall gradually dispersed, and the lively forum gradually took on new trends and themes.
When Ye Shulin logged into the chat software as usual, as he clicked, the group chat page immediately popped up -
"Are there any good mystery novels or comics recently?"
"I'm following the story in the Yanling Comics. The method of committing the crime is quite interesting, but unfortunately my girlfriend can't stand it."
"The one in Baiyun Comics is pretty good too, with basically no logical flaws. I heard the script was originally written by a master of mystery writing? No wonder the cases are always so well written."
It was a very ordinary conversation, but Ye Shulin suddenly realized that people rarely mentioned Sherlock Holmes since some time ago.