A tight, well-crafted crime novella. Brubaker and Phillips take a fairly bog-standard who-dunnit and inject enough of their own sensibilities and craftsmanship to make it seem fresh.

Brubaker and Philips deliver again. This is a well-paced, well-executed crime story set in the early 1980's. Like past collaborations, this was very cinematic with occasional 'direct-to-camera' present-day updates from central characters and hints at the ending from the very first page. Highly recommended.

Where the Body Was is the story of what happened on Pelican Road in the Summer of 1984. Told through interviews with dozens of participants, witnesses, or bystanders. Bit by bit we learn about the hidden lives and choices that led to a body on the sidewalk and its disappearance. As Brubaker states in the afterword: "I like titles that mean more than one thing. This one means several things to me. it's about the mystery, but also about the past and nostalgia and memory and loss."

We begin with a map, the provided key noting 9 important locations. We're then given our 9 member cast of main characters, a full name for each with a key description. (For example Tommy Brandt is described as "Juvenile Delinquent"). The narrative begins with location #3 on the map, the Boarding House, and details it's history from construction to Summer 1984 where an argument between a young couple spirals into a first fight that is broken up by a man with a badge. This action leads to an extramarital affair and introduces the neighborhood and its cast. From there we learn of their summer adventures, jobs, lives and for some of them, how they learned or reacted to the bodies appearance and disappearance.

The interviews really make this novel. They allow the stories to unfold from multiple, specific viewpoints. But because they are held well after the Summer of 1984 the cast are able to talk with new levels of understanding, beyond their immediate reactions or youthful life experience. While many of them were young, how they look back on the events differs especially when it comes to naming the murderer.

Brubaker and Phillips have been collaborators for years, and the strength of their relationship is on full display here showing that they know how best to combine their talents. This is a wonderful stand alone story, a great way to introduce readers to their works.

This graphic novel was so good! I absolutely loved all the characters and their interconnected stories. This was really a book about imperfections, perceptions of people, and secrets which I loved. I cannot wait to check out other graphic novels by these authors. Also a very quick read.

This was such a good read! The mystery of the murder comes second in this graphic novel, but the intrigue around the neighbourhood and its inhabitants keeps you as interested as about the murder. Would read more of Brubaker and Phillips'!

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC of this text.

This true crime graphic novel was more about the lives of people who live on the same street in the 80s, rather than the murder itself. That doesn't mean this is a bad thing though. It was very interesting to read about the interactions and their thoughts much later in the future.

The artwork was good, nothing amazing though.

A nice quick read for those who want to see lives intercepting each other, with a little mystery built in.

Where the Body Was

Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (Artist), Jacob Phillips (Artist)

Blurb

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, bestselling creators of PULP, RECKLESS, and CRIMINAL, are back with a new original graphic novel that readers will be obsessed with… A boarding house full of druggies. A neglected housewife. A young girl who thinks she’s a superhero. A cop who wants to be left alone. And a Private Detective looking for a runaway girl. These stories collide one fateful summer in WHERE THE BODY WAS, a tale of love and murder in the suburbs, told from a dozen different points of view. All the neighbors on the block have an opinion about the murder and how it happened, but which of them is telling the truth? WHERE THE BODY WAS is a tour-de-force from grandmasters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Starting with a map of the crime scene, this murder mystery follows the ripples of this killing as they echo through decades of love and loss and passion and violence. Like a true crime podcast crossed with a long-lost diary, WHERE THE BODY WAS is unlike anything Brubaker and Phillips have ever done, and a must-have for all their avid fans! (Goodreads, n.d)

True Crime

Are you a true crime fan? It’s a genre which has taken over the world. It is probably hard to find a person, who hasn’t heard of Jack the Ripper, or delved, down a rabbit hole in a podcast, TV show, docuseries or film. Where the Body Was will give you your true crime fix, in the form of a graphic novel. Intrigue, mystery and all in the suburbs of America. It’s told from different characters perspectives. The superhero kid was amusing, much more effective than the nosy neighbour. Instead of doing what her elders did not, she acts. The story flashes back to the future and the crushing reality was sometimes quite sad.

“I was such a sad kid.”

The words of a future adult.

I enjoyed the interruptions to the story. It was very unique, as though we were actually watching a true crime series, and not reading. It was immersive, but I suppose that’s a nod to the genre itself.

The ghouls that we all are, the true crime books, films, podcasts have got the formula down to a T, and it works here in a comic. You always find recreations of ‘murders, robberies’ etc, distasteful, but not here. Because the imagination and art thrives.

Everyone’s got a secret to hide, and gossip is like a drug to humans, that’s why reality TV, magazines flourish in our generation and why we can’t get enough of rumours, secrets and tabloid newspapers.

Story

The intricacies of life are laid bare in this graphic novel. I can’t say anymore, or I will spoil the story for you. But, sure some elements are true clichés, but what is a cliché? Do they hold some truth? Clichés may exist, because although there are so many of us alive today, we all generally live similar lives. Mortgage, family, work, death. We all ride the same rollercoaster, so it’s unsurprising we feel similar things on the ride.

Art

The art was very nostalgic, really taking you back thirty plus years. I enjoyed the pastel colours and the details were superb. The story worked along with it and it did read like something you would be listening to. The characters each had their eccentricities which made them feel unique. Like Palmer and his badge, the girl and her costume, I enjoyed her dialogue entries too, which were torn pages from a journal. It was the little details that added up which show you the care put into this graphic novel.

Final Thoughts

You will keep asking yourself, who did it? But then you’ll ask the second question, what did they do?

It’s an interesting story and one for any fans of true crime.

References

1. Goodreads, (n.d) Where the Body Was. Accessed via: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168386479-where-the-body-was

Where the Body Was takes place on a street in a town. People are living their separate but interconnected lives- their stories overlapping and almost touching- and then there is a dead body on the street. There's a mystery, for sure, but the real meat of the book is the tale of these people and their lives.

I loved the heck out of this. I read it in less than an hour and I think I'm going to read it a couple more times before it expires. Brubaker and Phillips have been working together for years and years and it really shows. There's a beautiful flow to this story and the art and writing play off one another perfectly. The character work is great- with just enough backstory and flash forward to give you a feel for who these people are.

Highly recommended!