Case Closed 26 cover image courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Ace high school detective, Jimmy Kudo, is on the trail of two mysterious men in black.  They attack him from behind and administer to him a strange substance which physically transforms Jimmy into a first grader.  While searching for a cure, Jimmy takes the identity of elementary school student, Conan Edogawa.  Acting alone and sometimes with his friends, the Junior Detective League, Jimmy/Conan keeps on solving criminal cases and mysteries.

Case Closed, Vol. 26 opens; Conan has been shot and wakes up in the hospital.  He recovers just in time to solve a real-life murder that interrupts Rachel Moore’s high school play.  That’s not the only surprise.  Jimmy Kudo is back, and he has a secret to tell Rachel, if only there wasn’t another pesky murder (needing to be solved) near the restaurant where Jimmy and Rachel are having their big dinner.

THE LOWDOWN:  Known in Japan as Detective Conan, Case Closed is an exceptional detective manga, probably one of the better mystery comics ever published.  It’s a classical mystery series in the tradition of Agatha Christie style whodunits.  Creator Gosho Aoyama’s compositions create the perfect sets, settings, and environments for a murder mystery, and his cartoony drawing style belies what a technically gifted cartoonist he is.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of mystery series will adore this, although this volume doesn’t quite match up to the stories contained in other recent volumes.

B+