Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules

With a thirst for adventure and a strong sense of right and wrong, Delilah Dirk doesn’t hesitate to take action. With the story being narrated by Delilah’s sidekick Selim, readers follow Delilah through a string of risky adventures that usually serve two purposes: to do what’s right, and to teach anyone who underestimates her lesson about judging on appearances.

When Delilah is imprisoned by Küçuk, a powerful tyrant, for helping a ship make it to safety, she sees a challenge rather than defeat. Her quick escape, proving she’s too smart for her captor and his henchmen, draws the attention of vanHassel, a scoundrel who, unlike some, immediately recognizes Delilah’s skills and intelligence, or at least how he could profit off them. Delilah’s skills and passion, along with her strong dislike of Küçuk, make her the perfect person for vanHassel to team up with to locate an ancient ruin Küçuk wants to find, but vanHassel envisions Delilah Dirk and Selim doing the work while he sits back and takes all the credit. Unfortunately, vanHassel does more harm than good, including sending the already incredible adventures of Delilah, the ‘modern amazon’, to a newspaper, drawing unwanted international attention and complications. Fortunately, it’s nothing Delilah can’t handle, but even her wild imagination could not have imagined that the ancient ruins for which they were searching could turn out to be The Third Pillar of Hercules. Finding the site was difficult, but managing the chaos caused by vanHassel’s bragging about their discovery is almost too much for even the savvy Delilah Dirk and her sidekick Salim to handle.

Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules is a refreshing, timely twist on the typical superhero formula: a strong female lead armed with a loyal male side-kick full of witty commentary that injects humour into a suspenseful, fast-moving storyline while emphasizing Delilah’s superior intelligence and actions compared to those around her, in particular vanHassel, a foolish weak man she has to rescue again and again. Delilah Dirk proves those who underestimate her intelligence and physically abilities wrong with ease, usually to the well-earned embarrassment of her opponent. Readers will revel in Delilah’s adventures, and cheer her on as she outwits and deals with anyone who gets in her way. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that no matter how outlandish the stories vanHassel had published, no amount of exaggeration could live up to the strength and achievements of the real Delilah Dirk.

With beautiful illustrations packed with detail, each panel adds to the story. Through variations in panel size and by using a two-page spread without text to illustrate the horror felt as Delilah Dirk, Salim, and vanHassel unexpectedly find themselves in a room full of skeletons, readers will feel swept up in the action.

After Delilah Dirk’s story has been told, readers are given insight into the author’s process for laying out panels. Learning the process of bringing text to life through illustrations, and that even the professionals struggle from time to time, will inspire and encourage readers to tell their own stories and bring their own adventures to life and, like Delilah Dirk, to persist even when the going gets tough.

Packed suspense, heroics, and humour, Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules will keep readers on their toes, questioning what they assume about people based on appearance, and ready to surprise and impress people with their own ‘hidden’ abilities.