This story continues to be well crafted, engaging and fun for any reader, though those who can catch many of the literary references fare far better. The art is nice and feels normal without sacrificing its sense of dynamics or losing overall integrity. Dialogue feels surprisingly human and natural, which makes it seem even more thrilling when something exotic or exciting happens. The interludes with excerpts from the Tommy novels are interesting and likely foreshadow important events, sometimes I get them and other times I do not. My singular complaint is the pacing of the story. It has been incredibly slow and methodical, punctuated with rare breakthroughs to give the reader some information. Fourteen issues in I feel as though I know the key players in the drama but little more. Each meager revelation is clouded by at least one new smokescreen which occasionally causes some frustration.

In this issue Tommy plots to confront his father, though he will likely not have the opportunity. Savoy acts as an unwitting and unwilling spy for the Count, who seems more a present threat rather than the true source of the villainy. Lizzie, who is the most interesting character to me, continues to carry on with veiled allusions to the knowledge she possesses and her role in the future. She swindles the door knob and leaves Tom alone, unguarded with scarcely more knowledge that he had when the series began.