This graphic novel was entertaining and well-drawn, definitely worth the money and the hype, and I hope will be successful!

Great art but a strange off-putting story. It's about an Australian man who has been in hiding for the last 27 years for killing his wife. In the 70's, his brother confessed to the crime on his death bed and the brother heads home. He's plagued by visions of his dead wife graphically talking to him about all the men in the town she slept with. The town people are all pretty awful. It feels like Zidrou is trying really hard to use every bit of Australian slang he's researched. It's telegraphed early on exactly how this is going to end. Zidrou has written better comics.

Twenty-seven years ago, in a sleepy outback town, Lee Duncan was savagely murdered. Everyone knows who did it – her husband Greg.

For decades, he’s been a wanted man. But when his brother makes a deathbed confession to the killing, Greg has to return to his hometown and face the people who have always believed him to be a murderer.

This is a short graphic novel – 66 pages – and the narrative is similarly brief. There’s a lot of hinted-at backstory and such, which does extend the effective length/complexity, but if this was prose, it would be a short story. It could have stood to be longer, to be honest, as trying to fit all the different plot strands and characters into such a small space results in a somewhat jerky narrative.

It’s Australian noir, which I rather like as an aesthetic – you get the wide open spaces filled with inwards-looking people, and summer in small-town Australia is a relatively novel setting, compared to mean Chicago streets. This is a book that manages to (almost always) eschew the pathetic fallacy, managing a menacing tone despite the sun-drenched environment. The one scene in which the weather does mirror the action doesn’t feel forced.

Philippe Berthet’s art is definitely a high-point, giving a strong sense of the setting. The action is clear throughout as well; a lot of graphic novels struggle to get across the key points in a scene, but A Hell of an Innocent‘s style is consistently clear. The character design is weaker than both motion and setting; as an artist, Berthet does have something of a tendency towards grotesqueries, with many characters having exaggerated ugliness for no real reason – the major characters are bland but the minor ones are almost caricatures.

Although the key event in the plot is murder, infidelity is actually a more consistent motif. Sex is legitimately part of the narrative, but the narrative itself is gratuitous, focused at least as much on titillation as it is on its supposed main ideas. The murder victim (appearing in both flashbacks and hallucinations) is endlessly objectified and over-sexed in a way that obscures rather than supports the story. I didn’t need all the detail, and the infidelity would have had the same plot-impact with far fewer participants.

This is a book that pitches itself as focused on guilt and secrecy, exploring how people and places respond to deception and revelation in turn. It’s a strong concept that I would have liked to see developed further, but it’s constantly being overshadowed. Pulling back on the level of detail, or even simplifying the sexual politics of the story, would have allowed much more time to focus on the ideas that the book is meant to be about.

The prose is unfortunately stilted, trying but failing to capture that distinctive noir tone; at points, the dialogue is so focused on its own cleverness that it’s a little tricky to work out what is supposed to be going on. Raymond Chandler manages to get away with the larger-than-life characters and the arch quips because it’s accompanied by a blunt, almost matter-of-fact narrative; you can’t combine the same tone with ostentation without it falling flat.

Overall, A Hell of an Innocent is a book with some interesting ideas and some promises that are unfortunately not lived up to. The seeds of an arresting and thought-provoking graphic novel are all present, but each separate element is let down by the both the author’s and illustrator’s self-indulgence, in art and prose and plotting. With more severe editing and a tighter focus, this book would have been much more affecting.

What the hell did I just read? I loved the illustrations; it was my first time reading Australian noir, but I enjoyed it; it was a bit too out there for my taste, but I am glad I read it.

'A Hell of an Innocent' by Zidrou with art by Berthet Philippe is about an old crime, and the ghosts that come along with that.

27 years ago in a small Australian town, a woman was murdered. Now the owner of a local candy store dies and leaves behind his confession. This brings his brother Mark out of hiding. You see, Mark was the one accused. The only problem is the dead woman, his ex-wife, is plaguing him wherever he goes.

I liked this noir story of the past and how it haunts us. The art was a nice clean style and I really liked it.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I found myself in love with the artwork of "A Hell of an Innocent" but I think there was just something missing. The story or the characters just had something lacking. It's an interesting read overall though.

I love the art, it has a classic noir vibe. The storyline had a great concept and interesting parts but left me wanting. The characters needed something to liven them up.

Who killed Lee Duncan? Was it her husband, Greg, who has been hiding out in the bush for over 20 years as the main suspect in the crime, or was it his brother Ike, whose deathbed confession to the crime exonerates Greg and allows him to return home - while ruining the lives of Ike's wife and daughter?
Through conversations with Lee's ghost, as well as Ike's memories and conversations with those still living we finally learn the truth.

Beautiful classic noir styled illustrations just about carry this relatively weak story up to a readable level.

This is made a worthwhile book by the detailed images throughout and they vintage style that keeps this feeling like a dark noir thriller.

I'd be interested in seeing further work from this same duo. If the storytelling can be stepped up and taken in a more original direction with this artistic style alongside it, something really great could be produced.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It was interesting, but not really my cup of tea. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Kind of hard to read. I enjoyed but is not an impresindible, One thing I 'm really grateful is the fact that is the set in Australia, first book that I know and feel that place throgh the pages. I love the art and the cover is awesome

A Hell of an Innocent is a graphic novel noir set in Australia around the time of the Vietnam War. Greg Hopper is a man who was accused of his wife's gruesome murder, afterward fleeing into a remote area where he raises livestock with his dog Commonwealth.

Everything stays the same for Greg for around 20 years, until one day he receives a newspaper whose front page is proclaiming that the killer has confessed, and it's none other than Greg's brother Ike.

Greg goes back into town where he's surrounded by people who are constantly apologizing to him for blaming him for his wife's murder. He seems to take everything in stride until he goes to see his sister-in-law.

Throughout the story his companion is the ghost of his wife, frequently sharing the stories of all the lovers she had when still alive.

It's a graphic novel about jealousy, sibling relationships, and guilt.

Overall, the story itself is lacking, and the characters were a little bland. The twist was predictable, but in a story whose focus is the relationship between siblings, I don't think that hurt the overall work very much. The art by Philippe Berthet was absolutely stunning. There are so many panels that blew me away, especially the ones that focused on landscape. The characters and animals were all well-drawn and the color scheme of the whole thing was perfect for the type of story that it was. It was a somewhat enjoyable read, but not one I would ever find myself coming back to a second time.

I quite enjoyed this series. Europe Comics have put out a number of my favorite graphic novels of the past 5 years, and while this one doesn't quite reach say a Blacksad or even Sisco, it is still highly enjoyable. I appreciated the detail done to Australian life and culture as well. With a slow build, it still drops enough twists a turns to keep you interested. Definetly worth a look.

Everything about the story feels cliche, the characters, the plot, the sexism. I wouldn't recommend it.

Unfocused, dull quasi-crime story set in Oz without any interesting characters or anything fun happening. Dry, boring - didn't like it at all.

A dark tale of a notorious murder in a sleepy town in Australia.
Following the brutal slaying of his wife the chief suspect Greg runs away; believed to be in USA or Japan, he hides out on a sheep station in the outback.
He lives a solitary existence apart from weekly visits with supplies and the odd newspaper. He turns straight to the sports pages and life seems to have passed him by completely, not appreciating that man had landed on the moon, and that America was involved in a drawn-out conflict in Vietnam.
Commentating on this lack of interest the guy who his perhaps is only friend, says it isn't just international affairs that he isn't abreast of, closer to home, the biggest manhunt in recent history across Australian has been called off. The brother of the main suspect, Ike has made a deathbed confession of his sister-in-law's murder.
Greg is now free to return home, pick up with his life and pay his respects.
Some of the town's community are less than forgiving and he has more to resolve than he ever imagined.
I loved this old-fashioned mystery set in the 1960s. It was good to read about a township in Australia and to witness the same principles as in any crime drama.
The murder was savage and, 27 years later, the people are still talking about the victim; equally they are quick to attribute blame and swallow the admission of guilt of a man who lived amongst them and served their community. Greg remains uneasy, not helped by the constant presence of his wife in his ear, who we see as a fully drawn character in the comic strip.
Excellent illustrations and well worked text that sums up this extended family's secrets and demonstrates the continuing fallout 3 decades later. Greg is convincing but you feel he will struggle to lay his own ghosts and pick up his life when he carries his own unfulfilled relationships and dark secrets.
A strong story which would work well in just the printed form but comes alive as a graphic novel.

I'm new to graphic novels so I haven't got much of a yardstick to judge them by, but A Hell of an Innocent was a short but punchy offering. In broad terms, Ike Hopper, the lolly shop owner in Dubbo is on his deathbed and confesses to murdering Lee Duncan twenty-something years previously. Lee was the young wife of his brother Greg, who fled the scene of the crime. This confession allows Greg to return to Dubbo from his exile on a sheep station near Gundagai.

The story is initially quite difficult to follow. The key to understanding it is that Ike, who narrates the story, is not seen in the visuals. At first, Ike's narration accompanies pictures of the sheriff who the reader will naturally assume to be Ike, and then accompanies Greg. Oh, and the reader will come to appreciate Lee in a different light. This initial confusion does resolve itself by the end and is likely to send the reader straight back to the beginning to resolve unanswered questions.

The imagery is gorgeous. In hues of red and brown, there is a convincing representation of regional NSW and small country towns. It looks and feels authentic. And although some of the dialogue does feel a bit like the Strine is strained, overall it works. The characters feel real despite this being, essentially, a short story and the plot had a delightful twist to it. I believe this is a French/European production but I would not have known; this could easily have been authentic Australian.

In terms of technology, I read this on an iPad and it worked well. It would probably not work on anything very much smaller.

In the wake of a small time shop owner a crime is brought to the surface and the way that it affects people is compelling and expertly drawn.

I went into this graphic novel with high hopes. The stunning cover itself drew me in, and I was sure i would simply devour this one. Unfortunately, the story did not hold up to my expectations. I was confused, uninterested, and not impressed. I found the characters to be rushed or flat. I did enjoy the artwork style, and would still be interested in seeing more work by the artist. But this one won't be on my recommendation list.

I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Not for me. The art work is odd. The color is alright. The characters were tough to like and the story was not for me at all.