Villordsutch reviews Dirk Gently: The Salmon of Doubt #5…
Plagued by nightmares of a life he never had, Dirk Gently discovers that a holistic detective can have more than one past, and they’re about to catch up with him!
When is a Dirk Gently comic still brilliant, but in truth not actually a Dirk Gently comic? When it follows a certain Holistic Assassin through nearly all its pages and a even throws in a nod towards a certain Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Rock God – that or an Estate Agents in London (depending on your Google search result).
Throughout the recent Netflix Dirk Gently TV series a cluster of characters were introduced, and the one which stuck within our collective brains the most was Bart(ine) Curlish, the Holistic Assassin. She wandered through the Universe, though isolated currently to Planet Earth, killing people who needed to be killed. Not because there was list of names, or they had perhaps irked her, but because the universe – according to this Assassin (Holistic) – had deemed it their time to perish.
Now here in Issue #5 of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency we follow Bart in her quest to murder one Hotblack Desiato, the head of Death Black Records and book-keeper to the Vancouver Mob, but just before the murder can take place somebody has beaten her to the kill. Later we discover that Bart’s holistic murdering spree may not be completely Universe driven, as “Ross” – as business woman in the background – has been using a form of Neuro-linguistic programming on Bart to lead her towards Hotblack.
We find Sally, in the room of monitors, none too pleased with Dirks “laissez faire” attitude to her and others, screaming at the monitors, “I want to kill you Dirk Gently”. Unfortunately – for her and Dirk – the words, “Kill Dirk Gently” work their way across the ether to Bart asleep in a garbage bin.
Through this entire Dirk Gently comic you’ll possibly see Dirk in three maybe four panels, and I’m not including the monitors here. Granted in one of the panels Dirk is dressed as Tom Baker’s incarnation of Doctor Who so there’s extra kudos for that, yet the material we’re given more than makes up for the lack of the Holistic Detective.
Following Bartine around and seeing that all her decisions may not be completely dealt out by the universe is rather interesting, though I’m already looking forward to the moment were Ross realises that the Universe always comes out on top. Then along with this we get a short introduction to how Ken entered the whole Holistic universe; this comic is a rather splendid break from the norm.
Rating: 8/10
@Villordsutch
Originally published February 22, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
