One of the more gratifying, intelligent and absorbing graphic novels I've read in years, Bury the Lede centers around Madison Jackson, a young woman who's just landed a prime interning position at The Boston Lede, the most prestigious newspaper in town. Soon after she starts at the paper, a brutal murder rocks Boston when beautiful celebrity socialite Dahlia Kennedy is arrested for the heinously brutal hanging and stabbing death of her husband. The couple's young son has also vanished without a trace - and Dahlia Kennedy, shocking the world, confesses to both crimes, claiming to have also murdered her son and disposing of his body! Dahlia refuses all requests to talk with the many reporters practically climbing over each other to get her full story ... except Melody Jackson, who the Lede's ace reporter sends in on a whim, figuring the young intern could do no harm. And thus begins a fascinating, can't-tell-who's-lying-and-who's-not mindgame that Dahlia seems determined to play, Melody slowly rethinking the case and unsure if anything is at it seems. It's a genuine cat-and-mouse of each woman thinking she's playing the other, beautifully written onto the page by Gaby Dunn; so much so, often reading this graphic novel feels more like reading a fully-formed, structured novel (though the dark, moody artwork and murky colors help to set the entire mood of this bizarre game between the two women). Definitely for "mature audiences" due to its depiction (and descriptions) of graphic violence, Bury the Lede is brilliantly-written and stylistically impressive, gruesome and raw as whatever is going on between Madison and Dahlia themselves. Here's hoping I can find more graphic novels like it. 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

A beautifully illustrated, fast paced mystery graphic novel. I would have liked a little more closure -- it feels like the ending is just begging for a sequel. Bold of the creators to have such an unlikable character as the lead, but it's not done perfectly (at one point Maddie roofies a character and it's treated like no big deal). There was also some good queer rep, in general, but I found the bi rep to be a little iffy, as it skirted some negative bi tropes

There are some things holding this back from a higher rating. Due to the fast pace, there's a LOT that is glossed over. We really don't get to know much about many of characters at all, so it's hard to care when bad things happen to them. Thus, the stakes don't feel as high as they should, and the end lacks emotional impact.

The plot is contrived, but I can live with it, because it's a grimdark noir mystery type. It does strain one's credibility to the point of breaking, though.

An interesting graphic novel filled with suspense, action and daring theories. Through a maze of murder theories, we follow Madison, a newsroom intern with ambition. When Dahlia Kennedy, celebrity socialite, confesses the murder of her husband and son to her, a dangerous cat and mouse game starts between Madison and the femme fatale.

This graphic novel with a noir plot and several LGBT+ characters was drawn amazingly. The dark and sharp drawing style suited the story well. The plot was a little confusing, I sometimes felt as if pages were missing. You need to pay attention or you won't be able to follow. Another thing that bugged me was the fact that Madison roofies a woman and faces absolutely no consequences.

Bury the Lead was definitely an interesting comic with cool drawing, thrilling plot and quite a lot plottwists. I really liked the investigation parts, as well as all those mysteries that were connected with plot. But, I cannot say that it was the best comic with this theme I've ever read. It was really predictable, I didn't like the characters and because of that, I even didn't enjoy romance in this comic.

So, overall, 3,5/5 stars, because it's too good for 3 stars, but not so good for 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this, the representation of the LGBTQ+ community. The plot was fab as well! Will definitely be reading more of these.

I appreciate the effort that went into creating this graphic novel but this didn't really do it for me. The art is good and I like the diverse characters but the plot can be hard to follow at times and the story really didn't flow very well. It's a mystery/thriller so I expected it to be high action and have a coherent plot but I was more often confused than not. I guess I just prefer a more linear storytelling style.

Anyone interested in crime thriller/mystery books may wish to take the foray into graphic novels with this book. The art is absolutely gorgeous. I think this book will do well with adult mystery/thriller readers.

A novice reporter finds herself part of the story when a socialite is arrested for murder - which is precisely the sort of premise unlikely to interest me in prose or on screen, yet for some reason I'm prepared to give it a go as a comic. I enjoyed how many of the leads are chaotic bisexuals, and there are some good lines: "For the first time when you Google my name, I come up and not that real estate agent from Tampa. Am I allowed to feel good about that?" But I bridle at the various implausibilities, never mind the front page headline about 'homocide' - even the Grauniad wouldn't have perpetrated that. Speaking of which, have I ever mentioned how much I hate the persistence of 'lede' when there's no longer any real likelihood of confusion with lead as in the metal used in old printing? It's the thing that leads, just call it a lead! None of which is the creators of this' fault, obviously.

(Netgalley ARC)

This was so very much not for me. I tried, I really did, and I'm sorry, but again, this just was not for me.

Noirish Enough

Three aspects of this book stand out for me - a reasonably noirish plot, a fairly predictable "cub" reporter ambition drama, and LGBTQ instalove.

As to the noir plot, it's twisty and grim enough, although it doesn't have the hopeless and dark ending you get with real noir. There is also a lot of coincidence and plenty of tip-offs to keep the heroine on the right track, which I guess makes sense within the length limits of a graphic novel. The same is true for the info dump rushed ending. But still, as modern noir goes this struck me as a credible effort.

There is a lot of cub reporter angst when the book begins, but luckily that fades away in fairly short order. By the end our heroine is already a pre-alcoholic, seasoned, disillusioned pro. That's a fast transition, but it makes sense given the overall vibe of the book. Halfway through she drugs a witness to get her to spill the beans, which was hard to swallow and sort of broke faith with the reader, but that's an example of the kinds of shortcuts the tale takes.

As to the insta-love, well, lots of readers hate insta-love, but I like it because it's efficient in terms of storytelling. Here, though, everyone is conveniently gay or bi depending on how the sexes randomly play out when it's time for a sex or romance scene. Neither the author nor the main characters ever seemed to actually commit to their sex assignments, so it was more or less colorful/edgy filler with no real connection between the characters.

The art, including the coloring, complemented the narrative and the feel the story was going for, and helped carry the book over some of its bumpier parts.

Bottom line - gripes aside, this was fast paced and twisty enough to keep me turning the pages, and was much better than some of the more authentically old school noirs I've read. So there's that.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

This wasn't for me. I thought the art was unattractive and the plot was complicated and unrealistic.

I couldn't imagine a school administrator shuffling around what sounded like dozens of teachers who'd molested students to new jobs at other schools. What school system employs tons of molesters?

It also wasn't clear to me why Dahlia chose to confide in Madison, an intern at a Boston newspaper. Did Dahlia really just want Maddie to bring her a coffee or make her some copies all along?

And how did Dahlia manage just to fall into a crazy situation involving the producers of a child porn ring and then an unrelated crazy situation involving a massive child molestation coverup? How does this happen?

And its casual treatment of the protagonist ROOFIE-ing another character to get information out of her. As if the end justified the means? What. the. what.

I received a copy of this graphic novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free comic.*

When a husband is killed, the son is missing, the wife only wants to talk to a newspaper intern. She allegedly confesses the murder of both husband and son, spiralling our intern deeper and deepter into a story of intrigues and dark secrets.

I didn't think this short comic would be that immerse but it was great. I also loved the LGBTQ themes and that there were several bisexual characters for example. Well writte, well drawn and full of suspense.

Looking forward to the next comics with the reporter ;-)

5 Stars

3.5 stars.

The art is amazing but the story was a bit messy in the pacing that it was a bit hard to follow. Nevertheless, it was still interesting and I liked that it had a detective vibe despite the main character being a reporter.

I found Dahlia to be really intriguing especially with the way she would throw hints Madison and her whole motive. It would have been more interesting if the main character was a bit smarter and less selfish with the cop who's always tipping her but somewhat gets better as it goes on at times.

My only problem with the art is the inconsistency with Madison's body shape. Sometimes she's chubby sometimes she look thin.

Overall, I want to continue with the series if they plan to continue the story and I hope the pacing isn't as messy as this one. It felt like Madison was going to be worse rather than better with the way she does her work to get the truth despite her losing family and friends.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

trigger warning: Gore, murder, sexual content.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. I couldn't put it down (so to speak, reading it on a laptop). My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

I really enjoyed the art style, but the story itself wasn't for me sadly. I was curious about the conclusion and that kept me reading, so it was good in that way.

I expected more. I think that the crime part of the story wasn't for me. I didn't really care who and why did it, which is unfortunate when that is the meat of the story. The reporting side was interesting, and I think that the comic shows the unethicality of it very well. Though some parts (using roofie to get information) was way over the line, in my opinion.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the characters themselves, I think that each had interesting personality and with longer and more interesting case they would show a better dynamic than what they had space for in this one. I think that 130 pages was just not enough to engage the reader in the crime story, make one interested in the characters and to wrap it all up.

And to end on the positive note, I really really liked the art style of this one.

An arc was kindly provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the colouring and art in this lesbian noir graphic novel about a intern reporter and a femme fatale murderer. The story and characters were enjoyable although the story seemed a bit rushed through, though as hard-boiled crime fiction is not my usual cup of tea, my middling review might be a case of 'it's not you, it's me". It feels like this would be a good series and as much was left unresolved for the protagonist's relationships it would be good to see her storyline developing further.

Bury the Lede is a noir/crime graphic novel about Madison Jackson, a young intern at one of Boston’s most important newspapers who’s willing to do whatever she has to in order to get a front page scoop.

While I loved the art style, I was not the biggest fan of the plot. I think it was disjointed and pretty confusing (I had to go back many times to try to figure out who or what the hell they were talking about as it felt like there were some missing scenes). Everything felt rushed and like it was trying to do too much for such a short amount of pages. Also, while I don’t mind morally gray characters, I think the MC’s (illegal) actions should’ve had some consequences for her or at least been addressed in some way or form.

I loved the concept of this graphic novel so much more than it's execution. I love investigative journalist stories and honestly I wish there was more of it in the fictional world. In addition, I don't think I've ever come across an adult graphic novel that takes that genre on - hence why I was so keen to check this one out.

But overall I just didn't feel engaged with the story. With the jolting plot-line and overall lack of character and background substance, I couldn't dive completely into the investigation. While I loved the queer relationships, I also had no connection to the characters what-so-ever.

The villain didn't villain-y enough and I wish there had been more of Madison's family background involved in the story.

I did love the artwork, it felt unique and much more mature than I am used to experiencing in a graphic novel. But in some ways, I felt like it almost added to the overall blandness of the story.

Overall, I feel as though there was a foundation here with so much potential that just didn't get reached. I'm curious to see what future graphic stories from Dunn are like, but this one just didn't work for me.

I found the story to be a bit boring, and I hated that the main character didn't face any consequences for drugging an older woman. I liked that justice was served, but other than that, I wasn't really impressed with the characters or the story itself.