Brubaker and Phillips continue their run at the top of the crime comic game. This one isn't so much about the crime--if there even is one--but the characters surrounding the incident in a small neighborhood in 1984 California. The story is told from multiple POVs in both the past of when it happened and the present giving Brubaker a lot of new narrative techniques to play with. And because of this framework we get a bigger picture of the interconnectedness of not only lives but human experience.

First off, I will admit that I'm not a regular reader of graphic novels, but am always open to the craft of reading a story that way. Where the Body Was is exceptionally drawn and well written and I'm sure will appeal to many readers. However, I was taken aback by the nudity and sex portrayed in the book when I was expecting a bit more of a mystery story. Graphic novels are very popular in school libraries, but I would not recommend this book because of its adult level theme and content.

‘Where the Body Was’ by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips is a curious graphic novel that takes place in a neighborhood with lots of secrets.

Events in a normal neighborhood are set in motion when an altercation between a druggie and a cop happens. From there perspectives shift between a bored housewife, the cop, a young girl who thinks she is a superhero and others. The story takes place over time and involves a murder and a missing body. Everything is not what it seems from the outside, and characters' lives are changed by events.

I’m a pretty big fan of Brubaker and Phillips other work, so this felt like a bit of a let down when it was all said and done. The character work and artwork are as solid as ever, but I wanted just a bit more from the story.

Reading this graphic novel was like taking a trip through a time machine to witness the turbulent events that happened in this neighborhood years ago. What a story! I've never felt so much satisfaction with how the different points of view are presented, and I felt engrossed in the different stories. This is basically a noir crime story but it's so much more.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I received a free electronic ARC of this graphic novel in return for an honest review.

More like a 4.5. I am a big, big fan of Ed Brubaker. When I saw a new title from him, I didn't even bother to read the description, I knew I wanted to read it. It's a little different from his other books. It's still gritty. There's still a body (obviously). I found the way he wove so many disparate stories from the same neighborhood together compelling. Add into it breaking the fourth wall and playing a few little games with time and it really kept me reading.

A tale that takes a close look at those often overlooked. Not my personal cup of tea, but I'm sure someone out there will enjoy the story. At the very least, I appreciate the artistic style of the book.

I always write these Brubaker/Phillips book reviews with the opening lines like "The team does it again" or something similar. It's the truth though. Each time out their creator owned books tell amazing stories that blur the lines between genres but always with a crime base. Where the Body Was features the usual Brubaker/Phillips crime beats, but we also get a little teen melodrama romance. Over the course of the story, we get sex, murder, love, theft, drugs, roller-skating, lust, and comic books that blends together in the perfect cocktail of everything I love in a story. As usual, whenever I see the next graphic novel from the team, I grab it and read it from start to finish. The biggest drawback is that having finished it 5 months ahead of its release, I have to wait for the next one. But I will, and gladly do it all over again.

Special Thanks to Image Comics and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

This was a great story well told. All the hallmarks of an ensemble TV series. There is a real depth to Brubaker's characters.
It's also nice that everything isn't cleared up for those within the graphic novel (who did what) but is for the readers. I've always enjoyed this aspect of graphic novels as it allows the characters to truly seem real.

Another smash by Brubacher and Philips! Very quick and digestible read of a story about the fantastical in the mundane. You understand how well-thought out characters can make any setting alive with personality.

Loved it, highly recommend!

I received a free ARC, and this review is voluntary.

Told from the perspectives of those that lived through the drama, and confusion, this who-dun-it mystery captures the moment. We don't always know who is lying, or feigning the truth, but what's evident is how the story is driven by these character personalities. Through each transition, we learn more about the case of The Body, and how not everything is as it seems, even when told through the perspective of those so self-assured of their own memory. One lie told, unfolding like an umbrella, creating a pseudo sense of security, and enabling a false reality. The actions of the characters have consequences. Not always knowing how far that road will go, let alone how it will impact anyone else.

Surely this couldn't happen in a small town, right?

This is my favorite Brubaker-Phillips work so far; the narrative is coherent yet innovatively engaging with its flashbacks and multi-character POV. The art feels classic and lends itself to the mystery of the story (namely, who killed the detective and moved his body?), and I appreciate that it's a sort of crime novel that accidentally turns into a romance.

Who was lying? Who was spying? Just what were those folks on Pelican Road up to? It was back in 1984 and it was quite a scandal. Happily Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips decided to let us in on the details. We would never have figured it out without them since it seems unlikely that these characters could all have been connected. They have to explain the before and after. It’s a really good story. Oh, and it does include a body.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

It’s the summer of 1984 and the body of a dead PI has turned up on Pelican Road.
The story is told in the form of interviews with the local residents who all have their own ideas on the murder and all seem to be hiding secrets of their own…

What could be better than a juicy soap opera with both naked and DEAD bodies?

Set in the mid-eighties, we see all the goings-on with the folks of Pelican Road through the eyes and reminiscences of the characters themselves. I had a fun time with this, and the ending made me chuckle.

I love cozy type mysteries and thrillers! This one was awesome! It kept me up most of the night because I had to know what happened next. Great storyline and characters to go with it!

I was excited when I found out Net Galley would provide me with a copy of this comic. Author Ed Brubaker writes awesome stories and this one is no different. The story takes place in Summer 1984 in an abandoned boarding house on Pelican Road that junkies have taken over.

The story opens with an introduction to the boarding house. We meet the couple who were the original owners as well as their neighbors. After they pass on the boarding house falls into disrepair and junkies and other criminals move in. A girl who thinks she is a superhero, wearing a mask and a cape, has a crush on Palmer who is doing drugs with a woman he is sleeping with, Toni. In order to get cash for their fix, the couple burglarize homes. She threatens him with going to the cops if he doesn’t stop. Palmer tells everyone that he is a cop and flashes a badge at anyone whose behavior he does not like. Despite this, I found him to be a sympathetic character. Another character that I liked was Ranko. He is a homeless man who sees everything happens on the street even though no one sees him.

There were alot of characters introduced in the beginning and I didn't even try to remember who was who. I knew I would get them straight during my read which I did. Each of these characters get to narrate their own chapters and the reader begins to see the well crafted plot through their eyes. The body was not introduced in the book until the halfway point. Normally I would complain about this but the story was so absorbing that I didn't even notice its absence.

Where the Body Was is an entertaining mystery that satisfies. Comic fans will want to read this one.

I liked the cast of characters and all of the drama that played out, but the story itself wasn't incredibly compelling or strong. There were some raw moments that felt very plausible and the characters were realistically flawed, but overall I felt the motive was on the weak side and some characters' storylines were more prominent then they probably needed to be. But I enjoyed the noir-type of animation and the side stories helped keep my attention.

**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

Where the Body Was is a graphic novel of sort of vignettes (apparently all semi-based on true stories) about not just the (dead) body, but the (live) bodies moving around the neighborhood, all touching each other (metaphorically, though sometimes quite explicitly not metaphorically) as they go about their lives before and many years after an event-- that is, the finding of the body.

I liked the classic sort of art/character designs and the sort of differences in perspectives about what was going on but man there were a LOT of explicit panels so there should definitely be a plastic wrap or front cover content warning.

Rounding up to 4 stars but probably more 3.5 - 3.75.

Thanks to Image Comics and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for review!

It was alright. I enjoyed the story and the murder mystery, I hated some of the pictures. There was so much unnecessary nasty nudity (and don’t get me wrong, I’m no prude by any means, but these drawings were just gross to look at). It could’ve been perfectly fine without all that. It was a fun little story, just don’t understand why we needed to see such graphic sex scenes. “Graphic” novel, indeed.

Interesting comic. Vivid illustrations. Recommend it be read by those over 18 due to explicit sexual images. A lot of twists and turns in the story. Different than I expected. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy. I think this can appeal to some people but it wasn’t for me due to the many story lines and unexpected explicitness of the images.