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2.82 AVERAGE
2.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I suspect I enjoyed this book's methods more than the story it thought I would absorb, but I'm okay with that and hope Spencer continues bending plot conventions with the aid of a posse of talented artists.
I absolutely love the cover and title of this graphic novel and I wanted to love it. However, I ended up with more of a lukewarm liking for the book.
Conceptually, it was interesting with a series of murders that play out in the same pattern in different time period. In each instance there is a cast of characters investigating. As the story unfolds, there are more and more links between the time periods. This sounds really cool and at first I was on board, however, the execution was just a tad clumsy and the result convoluted and confusing.
As for the artwork, it was just okay. Some time periods were rendered better than others. For example, I thought that the artwork for Shahara was simply gorgeous. Yet, the artwork for Hillinghead was not so much. I think this was an effort to differentiate the time periods stylistically, but again the execution was off.
Then ending was also a bit clugy and kind of rambled a bit. But, overall it wasn't a bad story.
Conceptually, it was interesting with a series of murders that play out in the same pattern in different time period. In each instance there is a cast of characters investigating. As the story unfolds, there are more and more links between the time periods. This sounds really cool and at first I was on board, however, the execution was just a tad clumsy and the result convoluted and confusing.
As for the artwork, it was just okay. Some time periods were rendered better than others. For example, I thought that the artwork for Shahara was simply gorgeous. Yet, the artwork for Hillinghead was not so much. I think this was an effort to differentiate the time periods stylistically, but again the execution was off.
Then ending was also a bit clugy and kind of rambled a bit. But, overall it wasn't a bad story.
I don't think I understand what this was about. It just left me scratching my head. It's not terrible but I just had trouble getting into the story and figuring out what was going on. And by the end I don't know exactly what the answer was. Maybe it's just me. *shrugs*
Not what I expected honestly, the artwork was excellent but I found the storyline ultimately nonsensical and quite hard work.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Bodies has a very cool premise. A mysterious murder that is being investigated in four different time periods (1890, 1940, 2014, 2050). Taken individually most of them would have made for an interesting setting for an interesting book or series. The 1890s explores (though not deeply enough for my tastes) homosexuality in Victorian London against a Jack the Ripper-like backdrop. The 1940s concerns a seriously morally ambiguous detective operating during the Blitz. 2014 takes on white nationalism and Islamophobia in modern day London. And as for 2050...well that's a bit of an odd one. I can't really say I understood what is was about at all.
The worst aspect of the comic is that all of these stories are tied together in a way that makes the whole less than the some of its parts. I found the way the timelines were threaded together to be extremely confusing. I would forgive that if the story ended strongly, but it really didn't. Things got weird, I scratched my head, and then the book just kind of...ended. It's possible that there's a basic plot point that I overlooked that would have made sense of everything, but as it stands I was left seriously underwhelmed.
That being said, I really enjoyed Si Spencer's art for the most part. The different time periods are visually distinct, which made the comic a lot easier to follow than it otherwise would have been.
The worst aspect of the comic is that all of these stories are tied together in a way that makes the whole less than the some of its parts. I found the way the timelines were threaded together to be extremely confusing. I would forgive that if the story ended strongly, but it really didn't. Things got weird, I scratched my head, and then the book just kind of...ended. It's possible that there's a basic plot point that I overlooked that would have made sense of everything, but as it stands I was left seriously underwhelmed.
That being said, I really enjoyed Si Spencer's art for the most part. The different time periods are visually distinct, which made the comic a lot easier to follow than it otherwise would have been.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
A little too ambitious for its page-count, in my estimation, which is a drawback of American-comic book publishing practices. I liked the artwork, and the story was interesting in parts, but ultimately too disjointed to be satisfying.