2023 EDIT:
Reread: Not as fun this time round, I'm afraid. I've noticed some inconsistencies and plot holes, too, and Delilah and Selim's enemies conveniently don't fire their weapons at them when they should. The pacing is too fast and rushed, and we hardly see the villains, and they're crap villains, at that. Selim is annoying and inconsistent himself, to boot. Delilah deserves better. Plus she's the only female character (the only real one) in the whole book. And why did she have to be white? Like the only white character? Like a white saviour?
Final Score: 3/5
Original Review:
This is a lot of fun. I seriously want to cosplay as Delilah Dirk.
While 'Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant' is narrated from the perspective of the Turkish Lieutenant himself, Erdemoglu Selim, the reader is still treated to the delightful main heroine - we are in awe of her as much as Selim.
Delilah, a half-English/half-Greek former debutante, is reminiscent of Carmen Sandiego: she is a globetrotter and a thief. Also a swordswoman. Despite her jokey and light-hearted disposition, she kills her enemies as casually as any male antihero. She is extremely talented, smart, resourceful, and seemingly unstoppable, with Selim occasionally glimpsing a softer, more vulnerable side to her in their travels. Insights into Delilah's history are also touched on, and would be further explored in the sequels.
Selim himself is the humble everyman, more of a tea-man than a lieutenant, who has been used and abused all his life in his homeland. Until fate tasks him with meeting the prisoner Delilah Dirk. She escapes, and saves him from execution for unfounded charges of treachery and treason, and the two begin their adventures together, gradually striking an unlikely partnership.
Even though Selim believes he is cowardly and unfit for the troublemaking lifestyle of Delilah, he is actually rather brave, and can be as smart, snarky, and cunning as she is. He also really loves making tea, did I mention that already? One of my favourite scenes is when Selim considers abandoning Delilah on their first heist as a team, resulting in him living the high life (married to a woman he'd eyed in an earlier scene) while she is in a prison cell. He comes to realise how, in making such a choice, he'll be ungrateful to her, after she had saved his life. He'll truly be a coward then, so he ends up sticking to the plan, thus ridding any future guilt. It's a brilliantly subversive take on how easily some men ignore the efforts, words and actions of women; bad things may happen when she is callously left to fend for herself, and women cannot be free until men fight for their freedom too.
And who can forget the ominous and barely-seen baddie ZAKUL!!! (ooohhhs and aaahhhs).
The artwork is crisp and cartoony, and the story is so fast-paced, action-packed and full of humour that 'Delilah Dirk' would make a great DreamWorks animated movie.
I wish this comic could have shown us more of Delilah and less of Selim, though. And I have to ask, why did Delilah have to be white, in a Middle East/Western Asia setting full of Middle Eastern characters? I know she's an explorer, but this could have been a fantastic opportunity for a mainstream comic book to feature an all-Middle Eastern cast, one which could appeal to everyone, with a POC female lead to boot. She could have at least been wholly Greek and not half.
'Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant', like any good graphic novel, offers its readers a really good time. It's nothing complex. There is little dialogue in its many pages of nice artistry of landscapes, the sea, forests and castles. But it's an exciting action and comedy and historical fiction blend. I'm glad I bought it.
Final Score: 4/5
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