Review:
I wasn't familiar with Pera Comics prior to reading this. What snagged my attention was the puzzle/mystery-solving aspect.
This collection contains 45 cases, each of which consists of a single-panel comic. Readers are invited to pore over the details in the artwork in order to determine who the murderer is or, in some instances, whether it was homicide or suicide. The reverse side of each comic provides the solution. Each comic has a particular point value and, at the end, you're supposed to add up all your points to figure out your detective rank. I thought I was doing well enough to be a Pera Detective (the top rank), but my final rank ended up being Detective 1st Grade.
The collection starts off by introducing readers to the person behind the comics, the inspiration (yes, Pera was originally inspired by South Park's Kenny), and a brief kid-friendly explanation that all of Pera Kenny's deaths are actually fake. Then it's time for a convoluted murder mystery set in Ancient Rome that's designed to introduce readers to the sorts of details they'll need to pay attention to in order to solve the upcoming mysteries. Thankfully, none of the 45 mysteries are quite as convoluted as this first one, or I'd never have solved any of them.
All in all, a fun little collection. Not really the kind of thing that inspires rereading, though.
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