Advance Review: Interconnected Stories Drive ‘Where The Body Was’

Seeing the names Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips on a new graphic novel cover is enough to get most crime story and comics fans salivating with anticipation. The Eisner Award-winning pair, who have delivered such hits at The Fade Out, Criminal, and Kill or be Killed, are back with a new standalone graphic novel Where the Body Was – and it lives up to the creative team’s reputation.

Set in small-town California in the summer of 1984, the story revolves around the residents of Pelican Road. They are familiar misfits: the bored housewife, her psychiatrist husband, the nosy neighbor, an 11-year-old who want to be a superhero, and a loser who pretends to be a cop. There are plenty more characters, though not enough to lose track of who is who are and how they fit into the story.

The story, masterfully crafted by Brubaker, ties together the lives of each character during the fateful summer. We learn just enough backstory about each, then chillingly most of the characters turn to the reader and speak directly to them – sometimes from 1984 and sometimes from today. It’s a jarring and incredibly effective way of storytelling. Yet despite the interconnectedness, the tale is easy to follow.

The characters are so well thought out and presented – and their situations are so interesting – that certain key plot points (who died and who killed him) are secondary. They matter, because ultimately the story is because of the death, but then again, it comes off a little more than a plot point. Brubaker’s writing is so tight that he has to remind us at the end that he hasn’t revealed the killer. That is simply great writing.

Phillips, his longtime creative partner, distinguishes each Pelican Road resident with ease. Even with nine main characters, we immediately know who is who. (Though it’s not the most diverse cast ever.) One note on the illustrations: Phillips depicts an affair in pretty graphic detail. While the illustrations are strong and move the story forward, the book is definitely NSFW.

Phillips’ son, Jacob, effectively provides the colors. Those hues are not relegated to a single character or feature, but rather play out across each panel. Cooler tones during normal times, lots of reds during passionate sex, and oranges and pinks when something nefarious is happening.

While the Brubaker/Phillips teaming will pull in the pair’s fans, a graphic novel this good deserves an even wider audience. Treat yourself to an early holiday present and pick this book up.

Where the Body Was will be available for purchase on December 13, 2023.