Mycroft Holmes and the Apocalypse Handbook #3 has Mycroft traveling through America in search of the world’s most dangerous blueprints. It opens up with Mycroft and Worthington just arriving on the docks in New York discussing their cover. Mycroft is posing as a wealthy businessman and Worthington, the government agent, is serving as his butler. Mycroft explains how he was able to determine the initial person he met was an imposter queen and it wasn’t due to the lack of training her. Mycroft just observed who Professor Hirsch ran to protect first when they were all attacked by the monsters in the morgue. But before Worthington can finish praising Mycroft for his deduction, Worthington melts right before Mycroft’s eyes.  Suddenly he’s surrounded by monsters who make light work of the police. The situation looks hopeless until a mysterious woman named Lark Adler shows up taking out the remaining monsters. But who is this woman? And can she truly help Mycroft when the enemy seems to know his every move?

I enjoyed Lark Adler’s cool entrance although I had to check a couple of times just to make sure I didn’t miss her name being mentioned in this issue. After this moment she initially felt like nothing more than an American liaison for Mycroft to explain how he could travel through the land and be informed of the different locations. However, the inclusion of a young girl who happened to be on the scene with her aunt opened the door to better interactions and a good mystery. The mystery might be nothing more than Mycroft having a heart but the character development from the flashback and the interaction with Lark was entertaining. And since the trust is there the story developments didn’t have me feeling like historical characters are just added for the sake of it.

SUMMARY

Mycroft Holmes and the Apocalypse Handbook #3 is an outstanding issue that does a wonderful job introducing its newest characters and making the story more engrossing. The flashback showing the difference between Mycroft and Sherlock and connecting it to his possible motives in the current situation is brilliant. And the way the veil is pulled back revealing the masterminds behind the Apocalypse Handbook plot is both shocking and exciting. I can’t wait to revisit this world again next issue.