As Case Closed begins, Jimmy Kudo has an enviable life. Though only in junior high, he’s one of the police’s most valuable assets, a detective prodigy who helps solve some baffling cases. A semi-celebrity, he’s also got Rachel, a smart, spirited girl who adores him, even if he’s too dense to realize it.
That set-up gets turned upside-down when Jimmy stumbles across a crime in progress. Subdued by the felons, he’s fed an experimental poison that turns his body to that of an adorable six-year-old. Jimmy fears that the people around him would be in danger if his attackers knew their victim was still alive, so he keeps his identity a secret until he can bring the criminals to justice and find an antidote.
But what’s a crack detective to do when everyone thinks he’s a pesky kid? Jimmy adopts a pseudonym, “Conan Edogawa,” taken from his favorite mystery authors, and ingratiates himself into Rachel’s household, led by her father, Richard Moore. Moore is a former policeman, now a private investigator. “Conan” assumes he can use Moore’s resources to his own ends, but Moore’s resources are as limited as his abilities.
Conan can’t resist the lure of an unsolved case, but he can’t reveal himself, either. Not only does he face the challenge of solving some fairly grisly mysteries, he also has to trick the incompetent Moore and the hapless police into coming to the right conclusions. It’s a twisty framework, and it makes way for some inventive comedy. Conan alternately plays on his cute-kid appearance and subverts it.
The mysteries themselves are nicely constructed, even if they don’t break any ground. They’re designed for readers to solve, not unlike the Encyclopedia Brown stories. Of course, Brown never dealt with beheadings, kidnappings, and celebrity scandal. But the violence of the crimes doesn’t undermine the good-natured tone of the stories. There’s a nice balance between menacing mystery and comic complications.
Jimmy/Conan is a fine protagonist, smart but not obnoxious, helpful but not saintly. The supporting cast is strong, too. Rachel’s worry over Jimmy is balanced by her sisterly affection for Conan. And Moore throws some great roadblocks in Conan’s path. He’s a wash as an investigator, ignoring evidence in favor of motive and blinded by his own simplistic assumptions about human nature. He’s the anti-Jimmy.
Beyond establishing a nifty premise, creator Gosho Aoyama has created strong visuals. While he doesn’t shy away from some of the grislier aspects of the stories, there’s a welcome streak of comedy. Character designs are charming, and the facial expressions are great. The pencils actually remind me a lot of Paul Grist’s work on Jack Staff.
Case Closed is a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to future volumes.
P.S. (The publisher of Case Closed, Viz, has apparently decided to prohibited the use of interior art, even in reviews. I don’t post images on my blog, so this doesn’t really affect me, but it still seems kind of dumb.)