Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
is a new graphic novel extending the adventures of Tony Cliff’s
beloved, swashbuckling webcomics heroine Delilah Dirk. Set in 1908, this
volume opens with the hapless Lieutenant Erdemoglu Selim reporting to
the sultan about the new prisoner he’s just gotten through questioning: a
woman adventurer who claims to be the daughter of a British diplomat,
skilled in many of the world’s swordfighting techniques, fearsome
fighter and adventurer, and expert escapologist. The
Sultan is contemptuous when the Lieutenant reports that she’s allowed
herself to be imprisoned for the express purpose of breaking out and
stealing some of his valuable scrolls, but he’s alarmed when she does
break out. He decides that Salim is in league with the prisoner, and
orders his execution – an execution that is stopped with moments to
spare by Delilah reappearing in the Sultan’s palace, killing several
guards, rescuing Salim, and whisking him away on her flying boat. She
has rescued him because he seemed like a good egg, and had made her a
truly remarkable cup of tea.
So begins a marvellous and exceptionally lovely graphic novel that
ranges far and wide, buckling titanic quantities of swash as it goes.
Salim and Delilah rob pirates, survive artillery charges and bombings,
endure long and arduous crossings over hostile terrain, and drink a lot
of tea. This the the pure, distilled essence of adventure, and features
an extremely likable pair of heroes, as fine as you’ll see in any comic,
novel or film. The whole book
is on the web, and you can read it to your heart’s content, but as with
all of publisher First Second’s books, the printed object is
particularly finely made and makes a handsome trophy and an even better
gift.
