It's Brubaker and Phillips at their best. A neatly plotted series of interconnected stories revolving around the discovery of a body in a small U.S town. Perspectives shift with each character as you get closer to the truth..I really liked the Ellery Queen style page introducing the resolution of the whodunit element, and because it really stood out for me, the colouring by Jacob Phillips is exquisite. Overall, a great package and very recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and Image Comics for the opportunity to review this

Brubaker and Phillips have once again crafted an amazingly beautiful stand-alone graphic novel. Phillips art is so amazing, and the colour pallet of the inks (by Jacob Philliips, Sean’s son) add so much to this story.
I loved Brubaker’s comment that he started out to write a crime story and ended up with a romance, as you can really see that layer of unrequited love. This is their best work to date.

Where the Body Was is a short whodunnit graphic, graphic novel, if I may. Someone in the small town has died. Loo’k at the map of the town, number nine in the road right near Mrs. Wilson’s house is the dead body. Everyone knows of the body and are trying to figure out what happened. The story was quite confusing an boring for this reader.

I'm a big fan of Brubaker and Phillips, and this was very different! A self-contained work that reminded me of the Serial podcast meets Agatha Christie. There's a map, a cast of characters, and a crime told from multiple perspectives. An interviewer asks all the characters questions. It's lighter, more of a comedy, and less complicated than some of their other muti-volume work. I read it in one sitting, and I think anyone who likes the creative team's work will like it, but also, people who haven't liked it before might enjoy checking this one out. Thank you to Image Comics for an ARC.

Where the Body Was is the ultimate in (larger-than) slice-of-life, a microcosm of American suburbia - that is, American suburbia as it was on Pelican Street, circa 1984. It's a pacey, well-crafted whodunit with a cast of archetypal characters that never feel stereotypical; in fact, they're the beating heart of this story. Drawing inspiration from the "mapback pulp books" 0f the 1940s, Where the Body Was manages to feel both fresh and familiar, and never lets up on the fun.

If you are expecting your average mystery, do not read this book? A compelling story from the team of Brubaker and Phillips. A enjoyable graphic novel that combines whodunit with small town drama. Thank you Image Comics and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

The art was good but the story itself felt disorganized. Wasn’t sure what was happening most of the time. None of the characters were particularly like-able either

The art is phenomenal but unfortunately the writing was just subpar. Felt like the story telling wasn't well structured and could of been better.

I really love the Kill or Be Killed series and I was really eager to read this one. I really enjoyed it, the art is really awesome, the story is interesting, and the characters are well thought-out. I could not put it down

Where the Body Was has many meanings. Layers of the plot build on each other and keep you engaged throughout. A whodunit of sorts that will leave you wondering until the end. Nudity in multiple panels.

Where the Body Was is a short whodunnit graphic novel. It takes place in a town where someone has died. Everyone in town is trying to figure out what happened. I found most of the story to be boring but the writing and most of the characters were interesting which is why this gets three stars. I liked that right at the beginning there is a page that shows and explains all of the characters names and who they are in the town.

I also liked that the graphic novel has different titled sections and goes into different character's point of view. Lila the roller derby kid and Ranko the homeless veteran were my favorite characters. Overall the story is promising but there are a lot of things happening at once. I did think the ending was good. Thank you to Image Comics and Netgalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for my review copy! 'Where the Body Was' is a fun, engaging & quick read for all murder mystery lovers. If you are hesitant with reading graphic novels or comics, this is a good one to try out! It's got all the things I love in a whodunit caper; a list of characters (with pictures!), a map and a really engaging plotline. I'm looking forwards to reading this on a physical copy, because my computer had issues with formatting, and I prefer to read graphic novels in paper format so I can go back and forth between pages. Highly suggest this for all mystery lovers, graphic novel fans & for those interested in trying out something new mystery-wise!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Image Comics for an advanced copy of this new crime graphic novel that tells about what lurks behind the closed doors of what seems to be a quiet little neighborhood.

Even the nicest of neighborhoods have secrets. Years ago police shut down a small road by my parents house, had all sorts of activity, and yet nothing was ever reported, nor were the couple who owned the place ever seen. A couple of years ago I was parking my car outside my house, when a cop car rolled up and the officer asked me, "Did you hear any sounds of, uh, violence recently?" Sound of violence. That threw me. Actually it was the uhh that really confused me. I said no, and the cop drove off. Another mystery in my small town. Which is one of the many reasons why I enjoyed this slice of life story about the happenings of a small town in the 1980's. And a body that suddenly disappears. Where the Body was is a graphic novel by the team of Ed Brubaker, writer and Sean and Jacob Phillips on art dealing with crime, love, being someone you want to be, and looking back and letting go.

The book begins with a map of the area, pointing out houses, the 7/11 and the tent location of a local homeless person. This really sets the mood as is seems like Anytown USA. The book is told in flashbacks from some of the characters in out modern day, looking back at a summer that for some was magical, for others not so much. A young Vietnamese girl who dresses as a superhero while patrolling her neighborhood, and her friend a homeless vet, who is getting treatment for his violent actions. Two young kids, one in love, the other trying to find herself, but who share a love of drugs and breaking into houses, A doctor and his wayward wife. And a man with a badge who tries to keep the peace. Into this comes a private detective looking for a missing daughter, whose appearance knocks the delicate balance of the neighborhood for a loop, and soon the sounds of violence are heard.

Brubaker and Phillips, father and son, really have a wonderful collaboration. This is not a typical story for them, a crime story, but one where the crime is secondary to the characters. Brubaker's gift as a writer is the ability to tell a story cleanly and concisely, developing characters that readers care what happens to. Be it eternal happiness or a cold end in a grave. The use of flashbacks allows the characters to share much about themselves, telling why they were doing dumb things, or acting the way they were. The story works really well telling all these little stories and bringing them together for an ending that is surprising, and for some of the characters then end of the best times of their lives. The art is as usual from Phillips excellent. The characters are all unique, all perfectly rendered with rich backgrounds and lots of props to make one think yup this is the 80's. Phillips makes the art fit the scenes, bright with new love, dark with anger, and sometimes cruel. A really great graphic novel.

Recommended for fans of this team. This work seems different, not the usual crime story, but a real look at people just trying to get by and be happy, be it afternoon encounters, breaking into houses, or trying to patrol a neighborhood in a mask. A great gift for one's self with for an after the holidays read.

Thanks to NetGalley for a courtesy copy in exchange for an honest review,

This graphic novel from the powerful Brubaker/Phillips team is a self-contained story that takes place in a small town. The cast includes a doctor and his spouse who are in a struggling marriage, a girl struggling with her identity, drug addicted kids and a detective, among other. There are various twists and turns in the story that connect the characters, but the main plot point that the others pivot off is a budding romance between two drug-addicted teenagers and how they spiral out of control.

In short, I see this story as the output of putting Strangers Things, a murder mystery and pulp fiction (the genre not the movie) into a blender. Plus, the art was fantastic for the genre.

5 stars because it was fun. Read it!

Probably 3.5-3.75 star rating would be most accurate... This is the 1st I've read of the Brubaker/Phillips team, but I wouldn't mind reading their work again. The cover art didn't really look like a comic/graphic novel ....but it is, & it is an 'adult' one (due to sex content.) It features a story/mystery about a particular place/event in time that happened in the neighborhood, told through various characters in a neighborhood....sometimes in 'interview' form, & you see each player's version of the events overlapping/meshing with the other's telling of their role. This is a great way to see it all happening at the same time. I liked the 'Afterword' at the end, explaining how this story came about. I liked the art work & the use of the color schemes, during different scenes. It was an entertaining, satisfying, quick read.
I received a free digital ARC from Image Comics via NetGalley in return for reading it & offering my own fair/honest review.

This comic had so much potential into being a much better, much longer graphic novel and so there’s a disappointment in it being so short but I did really love the switching POVs, the comic style and I’m a sucker for a whodunnit.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Where the Body Was is one of the weirder Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips collaborations. At times, it feels like a Slice of Life anthology depicting the mundane experiences of a cast of characters that just happen to live on the same street. There is an illicit romance between a detective and a bored housewife; there is a young girl obsessed with superheroes, a mentally ill war veteran, and a messed up young couple squatting in an empty house.

Bouncing around different points of view, this is one of Brubaker's funnier stories and one that keeps its secrets to the very end.

Phillips, as always, does a superb job on the art. It is one of the most explicit books he has drawn (not one to be read on public transport).

If you're expecting something like Criminal or Reckless, then this is not like those series. It's a bit lighter in tone and much more concerned with romantic love and the strange things it does to our souls.

As a stand-alone graphic novel this is well worth your time. It is slickly written and romps along at a great pace. Phillips's are is on point and is some of his best work in terms of capturing character's emotions.

I love everything that Brubaker and Philips do, and since Reckless they have been on a hot streak with these longer form books. This one keeps the run going in great form.

Everything you would expect from the pair - crisp art and storytelling, plus a real sense of place. Much like Reckless, this one is set in the recent(ish) past so there's a theme of nostalgia and memory surrounding it. However, it is more rooted in teenage days than Reckless, which leans more into the PI/Parker vibe.

It is essentially a murder mystery with a twist, and the story threatens to unravel under the weight of all the different plotlines, but somehow Brubaker keeps it all straight. The cast of characters feels much larger than usual, but they all come into their own and we see their lives play out with a neat trick of having them narrate some of the events from an unspecified point in the future. It adds weight to the story, as they look back on their earlier selves with a mixture of fondness, regret, and some earned wisdom with age. Those that make it out alive, anyway.

Slightly different from their previous stuff, but still unmistakably them. If you're already a fan, their books are pretty much buy on sight, and this one doesn't disappoint. Thanks to Image for the ARC.

Before I begin, we need a slow clap for Jacob Philips here. Because, if you ask me (which I know you technically didn't, but this is my review, so...) the colors stole the show in this standalone graphic mystery. Thumbs up for the artwork overall, which hit the perfect balance between gritty and bawdy—but the inking really helped orient the story in the 1980s, with the opening few panels' sepia tones emphasizing the narrative's pre-WW2 set-up.

For as short as it is, Where the Body Was is plotted incredibly well. It was immediately obvious that the title would play out on several levels—not just alluding to where in the neighborhood or where in the narrative arc a body would be found, but also in an overlapping sense of which characters were where they maybe shouldn't be. I also appreciated how the first half of the novel flipped my expectation of a whodunit? by making me wonder about the victim's identity, rather than the assailant's. This really speaks to Brubaker's ability to write flawed characters because I could legitimately see several different characters as a target for murder. (Raise your hand if you also went through a series of, "Oh, you're gonna get killed...no, wait, you're gonna get killed...ope, or it could be you..." thoughts.)

I always hate to do this, especially when there is so much that is good-slash-great about a book, but I have to admit that I was disappointed with the ending. Maybe it was supposed to be clever or ironic, but it really fell flat to me because it came across as lazy, as if a resolution whose tone and complexity matched that of the narrative wasn't worth the creators' time.

Overall, I would recommend this title to my graphic novel-loving pals. Five stars for the artwork, extra bonus stars for the coloring, and 3.5 stars for narrative execution. If my math is correct (yes of course my calculator has a button for 'extra bonus stars'), that averages out to a solid four-star read.

WOW! I think this is gonna be known as one of the best books by Brubaker and Phillips. Not so much a crime story, but a romance. It is hard to explain without giving anything away, which I don't want to do. Beautifuly written and drawn. The story reminds of a true crime documentary in style, which I don't remember ever being done in comics. This is a story full of nostalgia, growing up, love triangles... and also a dead body to spice things up