Mix Sherlock Holmes’s talent for deduction, a devil’s deviousness, a soldier’s loyalty, an unfortunate talent for getting wrapped up in gruesome murder investigations, put it all in a truly stunning teenage guy and shake well.

Meet Lord Cain Hargreaves. In 19th century London, Cain is the heir of the noble but notorious Hargreaves family, playing the role of a fetching bachelor and currently the favorite gentleman detective of his social set. He solves mysteries while navigating the labyrinthine politics and social climbing shenanigans of his peers, all the while haunted by an elusive nemesis who pulls the strings behind the individual cases Cain investigates. Cain has few people he can trust: his manservant Riff is a constant companion, bodyguard, and silent support, while Cain’s young half-sister Mary Weather connects him with a more innocent world and remains his one weakness.

Cain has everything you want in an emotionally distant hottie, elegant fashion sense, calculating conversation, rapier wit, keen intelligence, a dark past, and, of course, great hair. The crimes he dissects in this first volume include an Alice in Wonderland inspired serial killer, an entirely too creepy doll collection, and a string of young women paying the ultimate price to be momentarily beautiful. All are unsettling, splatter filled, and deliciously in line with the melodramatic, horrific traditions of Edgar Allen Poe and Mary Shelley. Yuki’s artwork, familiar from shojo angst hit Angel Sanctuary, is gothic, shadowed, and full or rich period detail. Her character designs–full of sleepy-eyed pretty boys and Victorian beauties showing off their hourglass figures–are perfect for setting the mood. If you love period mysteries with a horror edge, Godchild is definitely for you.

Godchild: Volume 1
by Kaori Yuki
ISBN 9781421502335
VIZ Media, 2006

  • Robin B.

    Editor in Chief

    Teen Librarian, Public Library of Brookline | She/Her

    Robin E. Brenner is Teen Librarian at the Brookline Public Library in Massachusetts. She has chaired the American Library Association Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection List Committee, the Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee, and served on the Michael L. Printz Award Committee. She is currently the President of the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table for ALA. She was a judge for the 2007 Eisner awards, helped judge the Boston Globe Horn Book Awards in 2011, and contributes to the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. She regularly gives lectures and workshops on graphic novels, manga, and anime at comics conventions including New York and San Diego Comic-Con and at the American Library Association’s conferences. Her guide, Understanding Manga and Anime (Libraries Unlimited, 2007), was nominated for a 2008 Eisner Award.

Liked it? Take a second to support us on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!