Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are as solid a creative team as exists in modern comics. Their graphic novels are always on point, and “Where the Body Was” is no exception. The way it goes from the Past to the Present is masterfully done and all of the characters hold your interest. It’s a stand alone crime story so it’s easy to give to a person who might not be familiar with Brubaker and Phillips’s past crime work. I was hooked from the first page. Highly recommended.

This story was so captivating that I had to read it twice. The first time, I turned the pages so fast to inhale the story and didn’t appreciate the art. The illustrator captured the essence of these characters so well. From the hardness of Palmer’s face from to the youthfulness of Lila.

Where the Body Was covers on summer in a town, helpfully displayed with a map at the start of the book, filled with neighbors with secrets. There's a child who wants to be a superhero, a veteran living in the woods, a runaway teen, a woman out of love with her husband, a private investigator, and a few others. Over one summer, these disparate people collide and their actions culminate in a dead body found. The book alternates between the perspectives of the characters as they reminisce about the summer.

Brubaker and Phillips are obviously masters of the graphic novel, and Where the Body Was is no exception. The alternative perspectives combined with the characters telling the story through their own memories made for a unique spin on what could have easily been an ordinary crime story. It works as a great twist on a modern true crime tale. Even with its large cast of characters, the book is engaging and I found it hard to put down until its final satisfying reveal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for a copy of Where the Body Was in exchange for an honest review.

Brubaker and Phillips team up once again and tell the story of the summer of 1984 on Pelican Street. The summer a body was found in the street mid-day.

Hardly a sleepy street, summer of 1984 the street was plagued by daytime robberies, a vacated house with a revolving list of drug-users, an eleven-year-old sleuth and so much more.

Told in an interview style, residents give their recollections of the summer everything went down in this fascinating graphic novel.

I really liked this graphic novel. I liked getting to see the different perspectives and retellings of what went happened during the time frame being spoken about. I also like that we got to see what really happened in regards to the mystery without the complication that comes with human perception.

This was excellent!

The artwork was perfect for this story. The story is set in a neighbourhood that could be anywhere with anywhere people, just a regular suburban couple of streets, but it isn’t regular because one afternoon a body appears on the street and then it disappears. We are then taken into the lives of the ordinary neighbours because one of them or even some of them knew who this man was and why he was killed.

As we go behind the doors of these seemingly ordinary homes we are introduced to the grit, the games and the gambles of lives next door. The way the story comes together, builds up and delivers is superb.

Well worth it and one of my best reads of 2023.

Copy provided by Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

Mystery noire comic writing at its best. This book was superb. It’s hard to even write a a review without simply saying go get it now.

This is an interesting approach to the "Whodunnit". I really liked the multiple perspectives approach in the graphic form. There is nudity and sexual intercourse depicted in this graphic novel, so this would not be something geared towards young teens. Overall, an interesting mystery, with a great twist.

The ever reliable team of Brubaker and Phillips gives us another gorgeous and entertaining read... this time drifting away from straight up crime to something a little more evocative of Brubaker's early LOWLIFE work as we bounce between a number of average people on a suburban street. Which isn't to say that nothing happens... or that those people are anything less than fascinating.

It loses a star for some unconvincing dialogue and a strong sense of familiarity in some of the characters. While they -- and the story -- are engaging, you sometimes get a sense of people emerging from other works of fiction. Not exactly derivative, but less than surprising.

I've loved the partnership between Brubaker & Phillips for a while now and once again they've knocked it out the park.

This whodunnit told in a format reminiscent of true crime documentaries or podcasts comes to life though Phillips artwork.

Getting to know the residents of the street slowly, with humour and mystery sprinkled in the interviews, was an interesting story telling device.

I enjoyed the way they told the approach they took to the reveal of the body and also the other main drama on the street - which I won't reveal for spoilers but I did not see it coming.

I was so immersed in this story that even though I went to sleep straight after reading it I dreamt I was living on the street and these people were actually my neighbours.

I didn’t realize this was a graphic novel until I downloaded it. I am not well versed in this genre of novel but what a pleasant surprise! It did not disappoint.

The illustrations/comic strips were very entertaining and added details to the story that may be missed in the written words/captions.

The character development was solid while the story moved at a quick pace that kept me engaged as the story unfolded.
4 ⭐️’s

This book was quite fun, but not at all what I expected.

From the description and the cover, I thought this would be a murder investigation, but turns out it is much more the story of a small town's drama and characters' lives over a few weeks, and the body is barely relevant to the story.

That said, I liked the book! Some of it felt repetitive and some parts were a bit too long, but given it is such a short book, it wasn't that big an issue.



Thank you NetGalley and Image Comics for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was my first by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips but surely won't be my last. What a great read. 5 stars!!

Another great noir graphic novel from Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips. These are always great, with great characters and story (and pacing). #WheretheBodyWasgraphicnovel #NetGalley

I've never read anything from Brubaker/Phillips before but this was really good, very retro, read like a good old crime novel.

I really liked the use of interviews with the characters to develop the story and the switch in perspective really works, I usually struggle with that. I particularly liked how there's lots of mystery and then everything sort of comes together slowly, and the final reveal was good. Overall pretty solid!

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

I’ve always loved Ed Brubakers work, and here with Sean Phillips they’ve created a fabulous mystery centred around a body.
I loved the artwork so realistic and gritty. The story was really good, moving in circles around a body of a man, in a street, and backwards and forwards in time. The twist at the end was excellent!
Great read 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars.

Amazing! Brubaker does it again. Always been a fan of his work and he never fails to tell a compelling story. Wonderful.

Once again the talents of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips shine bright in this nostalgia-noir thriller. Set in the Summer of 1984 on a decrepit block in a nameless California town this book tells a sordid yet compelling story the lives and fates of its large caste of characters converge on one traumatic event. The distinguishing feature of this book is its constantly changing and evolving point of view as it jumps from one character to another across multiple times. The resulting tale is riveting and the final reveal comes with a few twists that will keep even the most jaded fans guessing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Image Comics, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can’t think of anything I haven’t loved by this team, and this is no exception. Just great storytelling and art as always.

I’ve loved the graphic novels from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, so I jumped at the chance to read their forthcoming volume, Where the Body Was. It’s another outstanding book.

Taking place on one single block in a small town, the book isn’t so much about the death that occurs as much as it is about how the various lives of the imperfect residents intersect. I just loved how their past and present lives were represented. The story is simple, yet powerful, and the artwork is excellent as always. Very enjoyable.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of Where the Body Was.