WHERE THE BODY WAS by Brubaker and Phillips

Where The Body Was

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
Colorist: Jacob Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: December 13, 2023

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have been collaborators for effectively over 20 years now. Together they ushered in a renewed curiosity and reputation for American crime comics, and will definitely go down in historical past as probably the greatest comics groups ever. The pair’s work has change into extra and extra refined, the place its more and more straightforward to determine a Phillips web page or a Brubaker script. And over time, that is what has constructed a loyal fanbase, all the time certain what they are going to get out of this collaboration and adhering to a consistency that’s presently unmatched in American comics.

However, that’s maybe why Where the Body Was feels so disappointing; a comic book that’s held again by collaborative parts which are too routine within the face of its experimental premise.

The story opens with each a neighborhood map and a solid record. Initially, this presents an attention-grabbing narrative problem: telling a broadly interconnected story with a number of views and areas which may require some work of the learn to piece collectively the complete scope of the image. However, as I start to learn, I began to query the necessity to open the e book this fashion. The construction of the story, in addition to the function every character performs, by no means feels out of step or completely different from a ordinary Brubaker script. The geography of the neighborhood by no means performs into the thriller, nor does it really feel like I’m ever rewarded or certainly required to know why the format ought to matter whereas I’m studying.

At its coronary heart, this can be a story that mixes parts of Cruel Summer, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, and Deadenders. The former being a multigenerational story with a big solid that builds on our understanding of the Criminal sequence, and the latter two utilizing romance as a central factor to underpin why somebody commits crimes. Where the Body Was is each a criminal offense story and a romance about what individuals do for love, or what love can appear to be within the arms of the highly effective and the powerless.

Indeed, that is the place extra of the difficulty units in. Brubaker and Phillips work on the script and artwork on the similar time, Brubaker delivers pages in a gradual stream to maintain up with Phillips’ artwork. Oftentimes, this leads to serendipitous magic, the place a narrative transforms earlier than our eyes. What we thought was a romance turns into a criminal offense story. The bother with Where the Body Was is that shift feels inorganic. By the time you full the journey with these characters, the story has change into one thing else however not in a approach that recontextualizes the prior occasions in an attention-grabbing approach, however somewhat in a approach that makes the expertise really feel disjointed, uncertain of what the central concept finally is.

In persevering with with the same old workflow, Phillips additionally letters the comedian in his signature, understated type. His work is usually clear, environment friendly and retains tempo with Brubakers quick, pointed sentences. Here, nevertheless, the lettering resists experimentation and hinders the story. White letters on gentle backgrounds, making the phrases exhausting to learn, alongside bland, understated fonts for dramatic sound results that really feel inappropriately positioned, undercut the affect of the motion. Additionally, there aren’t any adjustments in lettering type to seize the shift in perspective from character to character, and even the shift from third particular person narration to first particular person. Rather than transferring seamlessly between views, there’s an unintentional ambiguity created by the shortage of distinct lettering selections.

This failure to experiment extends to Jacob Phillips colours as effectively. We journey the previous and the long run, we shift between completely different characters and their fantasies. And but none of that’s rendered with its personal distinctive shade palette. Often I discovered myself unable to orientate the place within the story I used to be by the artwork and colours, which must be the inspiration for our perspective and I needed to wait till an applicable factor of the script caught me up on what I used to be meant to be feeling.

Brubaker makes an attempt to craft a really complicated story right here, one that wishes to play with geography, perspective and even the narrative cliches of true crime. But none of those challenges yield a unique sort of script or completely different sort of decision to the story. The framing gadget of the story, characters recapping the historical past of the titular crime, doesn’t add to how the narrative is disclosed or how the themes of affection and romance are expressed. Ultimately, that alternative of hindsight interviews reads extra like a approach to extra simply present exposition somewhat than add to the expertise.

But there are parts right here that really feel like they’re value additional examination. Early on, the story introduces concepts of abuse of authority and energy, and how love is tangled with energy dynamics. Some of the characters concerned in that specific subplot really feel probably the most fleshed out and attention-grabbing, and Sean Phillips does an amazing job of drawing distinct faces and pure physique sorts. The solid feels instantly like a bunch that will inhabit an American suburb.

Where the Body Was is finally a misstep in the precise route. The premise gives room for difficult, new approaches to this two decade lengthy collaboration, a chance to do one thing thrilling and even just a little scary from a artistic perspective. However, that chance will not be taken, with all concerned preserving their ordinary type for a narrative that demanded one thing completely different. As a religious Brubaker/Phillips fan I used to be dissatisfied with this graphic novel, nevertheless it does give me hope that the pair are trying to attempt new issues. I solely hope they problem themselves in additional complicated and profitable methods sooner or later.

Verdict: Skip

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Where The Body Was is slated for launch in comedian outlets on December 13.