Baker Street is a ten-issue comic book series created by Gary Reed and Guy Davis, and published by Caliber Comics between 1989 and 1991.
Baker Street is a story set in an alternate-universe London where World War II never happened and the Victorian influence on British society continued into the 1980s. Divided into two arcs of five issues each, "Honour Among Punks" and "Children of the Night" combine Sherlock Holmes mystery and Jack the Ripper horror to create a unique and fascinating storyline. Featuring punks, goths, corrupt police, and an American student studying abroad, these two stories keep you guessing until the end.
Tropes in Baker Street include:
- Alternate History: The story set in an alternate-universe London where World War II never happened and the Victorian influence on British society continued into the 1980s. Supporting material mentions that Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia, but was foiled from any further expansion by an alliance between the UK, France, Russia and America.
- Anachronistic Clue: In #3, Sharon identifies a jade carving as forgery because the lines are too smooth and sharp to have been carved centuries ago with hand tools. It has to have been done with modern machine tools.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: In #5, the climatic confrontation between Sharon and Davenport takes place in the Baskervilles theatre, which is burning down around them as a result of a fire Davenport accidentally started.
- Beastly Bloodsports: The Baskerville's club runs ratting pits as 'entertainment' for its patrons. Dogs are pitted against rabid rats; with bets being placed on how many rats a dog can kill before it succumbs to rat bites.
- Calling Card: In "Honour Among Punks", the killer targeting members of the Gothics gang always cuts off a chunk of their hair as an insult.
- Cane Fu: Sharon Ford is an expert in using her walking stick as a weapon. In #2, she uses it parry a policeman's truncheon and then uses the handle to trip him.
- Caught in the Bad Part of Town: In #1, Susan unwisely attempts to locate the mysterious Baskerville's, and finds herself lost in the bad part of town. She is attacked by a gang of punks and has to be rescued by Sam.
- The Cavalry: In #5, Sharon and Susan are about to be shot by Davenport and his henchmen when they are saved by the arrival of Domino and the Tower of Hell gang, who have the area surrounded and have just heard Davenport's confession that he is really the one behind the deaths of their members during the recent gang wars.
- Classy Cane: Despite dressing like a punk, Sharon Ford carries an elegant Victorian gentleman's cane that she is very adept at wielding as a weapon.
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: At the end of the "Honour Among Punks" arc, Davenport and Boxe fall into the ratting pits at the Baskervilles, and bitten hundreds of times by rabid rats.
- Dirty Cop: Corruption is rife among the London police, with Sharon's ex-husband having been a dirty cop. In #2, Sharon sees a uniformed constable dealing drugs to a punk and is visibly disgusted.
- Engineered Public Confession: In #5, Davenport admits to Sharon and Susan that he is the one behind the deaths in the recent gang wars, planning to shoot them immediately. Unknown to him, the area is surrounded by the Tower of Hell gang who have borne the brunt of losses in these wars.
- False Flag Operation: In "Honour Among Punks", Davenport and his ally Boxe—who is a lieutenant in the Gothics gang—murder members of the Gothics and place the blame on rival gang the Towers: looking to ignite a gang war between the punk factions that they can use as a cover for their robberies.
- Fingertip Drug Analysis: After finding a member of the Gothics dead in an alley in #3, Sharon tastes the substance in the tip of the syringe found by the body and identifies it as very pure heroin
- Friend on the Force: Inspector Pinner is Sharon Ford's former partner in CID, and still comes to her for help with difficult cases. She sometimes calls him in at the end of her private investigations to handle the official bit of locking up the villains.
- Functional Addict: According to Inspector Pinner, even when she was addicted to cocaine, Sharon Ford was still the best detective in CID.
- Funetik Aksent: Used to represent the cockney accent of most of the punks, and some of the police.
- Great Detective: Sharon Ford is an Alternate Universe, 1980s, female, punk version of Sherlock Holmes.
- Percussive Pickpocket: In #2, Sharon collides with a constable and lifts his keys off him, which she tosses to Domino, who is handcuffed in the back of a police car.
- The Place
- Red Baron: Even though Sharon Ford has not been an active member of the gang scene for years, she is best known among punk circles—where she is regarded as an elder statesman—by her gang moniker of 'Harlequin'.
- Sherlock Can Read: In #1, Susan arrives at Baker Street to apply for the flatmate position. Sharon Ford does a Sherlock Scan on her and deduces a number of things about her (that she is a medical student, the university she is attending, etc.), including that she is American. Susan is astounded and asks Sharon if she deduced she was American from the clues she just listed. Sharon replies 'yes', but adds that the accent was something of a giveaway as well.
- Sherlock Scan: As the setting's equivalent of Sherlock Holmes, Sharon Ford makes a habit of this. On her first meeting with Susan, she performs one very similar to the one Holmes performs on Watson on their first meeting in A Study in Scarlet.Susan: Uh. H-How did you know I was a med student at Wisteria?
Sharon: Really! It's a simple observation... Well, more than that actually. A simple deductive observation, if you will. Bit of a hobby of mine. Let's see, you carry Gray's Anatomy, the 'handbook' of medical students. Belden's Anatomical Guide simply confirms that. That was a newspaper from the college... and it's common knowledge Wisteria has an exchange program with the States.
Susan: That told you I was an American...??
Sharon: Well, your accent did help. Along with your class ring. We prefer pins instead. - Sick Episode: "A Case of the Blues" is a short story that appeared in the 1989 Christmas special A Caliber Christmas. In it Susan is forced to spend Christmas Eve in hospital and receives a string of visitors who sneak in after visiting hours.
- Unmoving Plaid: This is a feature of the distinctive art style used in the book. As a result of the Victorian-inspired fashions of the Alternate History of Baker Street, there is a lot of plaid/tweed around.
- The Watson: Medical student Susan Pendergast moves into Sharon Ford's Baker Street digs: receiving free room and board in exchange for light housekeeping and paperwork duties. However, she soon finds herself drawn into Sharon's investigations, becoming the Watson to Sharon's Great Detective.
- Zeppelins from Another World: One of the changes in the Alternate History of Baker Street is the presence of zeppelins as a major form of air transport. The Hindenburg never crashed and, combined with World War II never occurring, zeppelins became the dominant form of intercontinental travel.
