Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: The Interconnectedness of All Kings by Chris Ryall

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: The Interconnectedness of All Kings Reviews

• 
  Donovan

  
  
  Hmm, not as good as I was hoping for. Much like the new Star Wars, whether you love it or hate it, it's more Star Wars.
  
  Dirk Gently Volume 1 plays to our love of nostalgia. Douglas Adams is dear to my heart, and the man knew intelligent comedy like very few others. And that's the biggest thing this volume is so severely lacking and in dire need of, more comedy. There's less a mystery than a random (read: holistic) unfolding of events that don't surprise as much as just happen. Don't get me wrong, the events are fairly interesting if not entirely original: Egyptian gods sucking out the souls of the living after traveling through time, wacky things happening at a natural history museum, and a ragtag band of assistants helping to solve the mystery. But I can't say I haven't seen this before.
  
  What you have to ask yourself is, how much do I love Douglas Adams? Because this is all about characters, and you really need to like Dirk Gently and detectives to like this book. And while there's some wordplay and silly non sequiturs, Dirk isn't quite weird enough, the story isn't wacky enough. I remember something about a couch lodged in a hallway that changed the space time fabric in one of the DG books and that's really stuck with me. But I feel like this story just washed over me like Scooby Doo. Stuff happened, some weird, most usual, there were a few jokes, running jokes too (those are the best), the art was really great in a purposefully vintage way, even the cover is wrinkled and worn and price-tagged, but it didn't hook me and make me love the characters, which I think Adams was really good at, creating lovable and quirky characters. And I don't know if the writer doesn't know Dirk all that well, or if his Douglas Adams impression just fell a little flat, at least for me personally.
  
  Adaption is difficult and sometimes a going through the motions. They didn't strike gold on the first try, and that's fine, it's still Douglas Adams-ish, highly readable, and generally adventurous. Assuming sales on this volume are okay, the editor Arvind Ethan David, who adapted Dirk Gently into plays in both high school and college, and whose plays were in attendance by no less than Douglas Adams himself, will be writing Volume 2 which hopefully picks up the comedy and slack. I'm personally, emotionally, nostalgically invested enough to read that one, too. So this was a mixed bag but I still had a good time.
• 
  Burgoo

  I had a lot of fun with this book. It's ultimately all about the humor, so YMMV more than most times.
  
  
  http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2016/0...
• 
  Mayaj

  This really bridged the conceptual gap between the What If A Chubby Goth Who Fears His Fridge But Not The Gods Accidentally Invented Bach of the original novels and the What If A Chaotic British Manchild (a la 2012) Fucks With Frodo, Cosmic Punks, And Dumb Ops To The Point Of Magic Mental Illness of the television show.
  
  This was clearly inspired by the height of the Tennant Era of Doctor Who, down to the costume choices and very specific references -- this is not a complaint. But it does explain the initially surprising Carcinization of Dirk Gently (but instead of a crab it's David Tennant). There is a strong family resemblance throughout all of these variations, and it's what keeps me coming back.
  
  For example, this comic starts out with Pharaoh Ahktenkhamen chilling with his best friends Neferhotep and Craig.
  
  That's it. That's all you need to know.
• 
  Scott

  Ever the proper but quirky gent, Dirk (knowingly) trips through one spooky mystery after another until all is (seemingly) solved. Fast paced, and with a wry nod to Adams himself, this was an enjoyable read. Relatable as Scooby-Doo meets Doctor Who.
• 
  Wayne McCoy

  'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: The Interconnectedness of All Kings' by Chris Rydall is a coninuation of the series started by Douglas Adams. This time it's in graphic novel form and it was a fun ride.
  
  What do an Egyptian king who hungers for humans, a couple who are recreating famous serial killings, and a homeless man with a golden cell phone have in common? Nothing, unless you are Dirk Gently, an odd detective who believes everything is interconnected. He lands in San Diego and appropriates a bag that is not his own. He finds a detective in training that owns a cafe and starts collecting people to help him solve the case.
  
  This is less about the mystery and more about the humor. Dirk is an oddball and the humor here is pretty good. I haven't read the original novel in years, but it seems to ring true with what I remember. I liked the characters he pulls along with him. If this becomes an ongoing series, it could be fun. I liked the art by Ilias Kyriazis and Tony Atkins. I enjoyed it.
  
  I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
• 
  John Shaw

  Since the sad untimely passing of
  Douglas Adams
  The creator of Dirk Gently
  And
  his lesser known works
  The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
  All the fans of this
  off beat comedically amazing series have had
  was the short lived TV series from The UK.
  
  This new series changes that.
  Ryall clearly has a deep love for the
  original books.
  As all of Adam's zany brilliance shines through.
  
  A wonderful start to what I hope is a long long series.
• 
  Hone Haapu

  I don't think Dirk Gently works as well as he does in the novels as he does in this comic.
  
• 
  Thomas Maluck

  It's not good form to call out underwhelming climaxes then perform one yourself. I consider Dirk Gently to be my first Doctor, following from Douglas Adams creating Dirk out of an unproduced Doctor Who script, and me happening upon the book on a sidewalk one day during high school. All in all, I enjoyed following this book from issue to issue, but the ending left me cold. I look forward to more Dirk in comics and broadcast, though!
• 
  Jim

  It’s kind of missing the magic of the original Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently stories.
  
  It was kind of, well, boring. I didn’t laugh at all. I may have smiled once.
  
  And the art wasn’t anything special.
  
  All in all, having read the novels, it was kind of disappointing.
  
  Not recommended, except maybe to the most completist collectors.
  
  Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond, and IDW for a copy in return for an honest review.
• 
  Chad

  A faithful translation of the absurdity of Douglas Adams.
• 
  Kazima

  Not exactly Douglas Adams, but Dirk is very Dirk and it's good to have more Dirk :-)
• 
  David

  Like most other Dirk Gently things I have seen and read that weren't by Douglas Adams, this misses the mark. It goes for the 'wackiness' angle, but doesn't quite capture the right feel.
• 
  Stefan Grieve

  As a fan of Douglas Adams and aware of the Dirk Gently series (mostly because of the BBC series which I thought was brilliant) I find this fun if lacking the subversive humour or intellectual genius that the originator of the character had.
  First off, the humour, although I did chuckle a couple of times, was mostly put aside to the plot, that I have to say would not have looked out of place in a more actual supernatural oriented Scooby doo episode (although it would be a bit less violent) and missing the main point of the stories, by not having all the plot elements connected by logic and synchronicity, but by having them somehow randomly connect together by coincidence and happenstance, that I don't think is the same thing.
  However their are some inventive ideas (if not entirely original) and the pacing and art are quite good.
  Also, for some reason I find the way Dirk is drawn to resemble the 10th doctor played by David Tennant in Doctor who, intentional or not, I think it's not the greatest idea.
  It's not the worst sequel to a story by another author I've read, but I did find it mildly disappointing.
  I found it fun and engaging though.
• 
  Cale

  It's not quite up to the level of the first book, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by how well this book captures the loopy coincidences and truly holistic feel of Dirk Gently. A stolen piece of luggage ends up connecting vacationing serial killers, a mummy, and a souler powered cell phone. It's a wild story, and Dirk is right in the center of it, bumbling through to a solution (or is it bumbling?) while pulling into his wake a variety of new and old friends. There's nothing completely laugh-out-loud in this volume, but that sense of things being utterly absurd yet still believable rings throughout. It is a memorably weird experience that stays true to the source material. The art is passable with a few inspired moments. All told, it makes for a good package especially for fans of Gently from other mediums.
• 
  Emily Green

  In Dirk Gently: The Interconnectedness of All Kings, Dirk has landed in San Diego and immediately steals a bag belonging to a dangerous character. Coincidentally, he ends up at a mystery themed coffee shop, where he finds an entourage for his adventure. Also involved: Egyptian mummies and classical music.
  
  The parallel stories of Dirk and his new-found entourage and the two sets of bad guys are told simultaneously, making the mystery into a question of when the good guys will figure out what the bad guys are up to. There are still a few surprises, and enough plot to hang the gags on.
  
  This volume does not touch the Dirk Gently novels, which I remember as hilarious game-changers for me when I was in middle school. However, it is not offensive like the other Dirk graphic novel I read.
• 
  Laura

  Liked this one a bit better than A spoon too short. Mummies, serial killers, and the running gags of the drones following him and Hamisch trying to be his assistant... I loved this one. Every other page was cracking me up, while keeping the plot quick and sharp.
  
  And my favorite is the business-
  "Gumshoes & Tea Leaves
  Where to find great tea? Mystery solved!"
  I wish there was a place like this in my town!
• 
  Russio

  It is smug and self-satisfied really, in a sort of post-modern way that didn't work especially well in the first two novels and doesn't work very well here, either. The plot holds some interest and there are some neat panels but the whole thing reads like a filler episode of David Tennant era Doctor Who, minus the spaceship.
• 
  Dominic

  These guys tried, they really did. Dirk Gently stories are apparently just very difficult to write. So while I enjoyed the characters and the material, I just wasn't intellectually delighted the way I was in the original novels. Might pick up book two one of these days but not right away.
• 
  Andrew Steele

  Was enjoyable enough. Some good turn of phrases. Some parts that had a spark of Douglas Adams. Overall it was enjoyable enough for an afternoon but probably not something that I will seek out in the future.
• 
  Annasara

  Rolig läsning, men tyckte nog mest om den för att jag gillar tv-serien. Ett plus för absurd handling och ett minus för avsaknaden av Elijah Wood.
• 
  Theut

  Ok, non è Douglas Adams, ma è bello ritrovare Dirk (e ora che so che esiste una serie tv... cadrò nel tunnel dell'addiction).
• 
  Salvatore Maddaluno

  Acquistato dopo aver sentito dei pareri positivi sulla serie tv ed aver letto la "guida ..." mi aspettavo qualcosa in più, anche se risulta una lettura piacevole.
• 
  James

  Fun story. Always quite a trip and confusing until it all gets tied together in the end. At best interconnectively-adjacent.
• 
  Kest Schwartzman

  I -mostly- liked the Spoon too Short storyline more, but I liked this ending better, so...
• 
  Tom Gaetjens

  A disappointing book that seems to want you to think it's clever without having to put any work into actually attaining that goal. A bit of a mess.
• 
  Heidi Haskell

  Nice to see Kate Schechter doing okay for herself.... hope she finally got a pizza delivered....
• 
  Gugg

  This will stay on my shelf for a very long time.