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mamaejamae's review
4.0
Not my favorite book but I liked the story and look forward to the other graphic novels in this series
bethtabler's review
3.0
Bury the Lede by Gaby Dunn is a hard biting crime-noir graphic novel. The novel sits high amongst noir graphic novels contemporaries such as Criminal by Ed Brubaker, and Jimmy's Bastards by Garth Ennis. The story holds its own. However, even with the fantastic panels drawn by artist Claire Roe and colored by Miguel Muerto, the tale lacks real cohesion to shine. It just is missing something, some connection between the writing and the reader.
The story revolves around Madison Jackson, an intrepid intern journalist at the fictionalized newspaper The Boston Lede. Madison is desperate to sink her journalistic incisors into a huge story, something that can put her on the map and prove her chops. Madison follows a police scanner to the murder of a prominent Boston citizen. The sole suspect is a woman named Delilah Kennedy. For some reason, Delilah has claimed the violent crime as her own and will only talk to Madison. The reasons for this are unclear. Delilah dangles tidbits to Madison and riddles. Madison, hungry for a story, tap dances to Delilah's tune. They pace around each other like hungry lionesses verbally sparring and looking for weakness.
In the meantime, Madison flubs her personal life repeatedly. She starts an intense physical relationship with her co-worker and with a young police officer that has fed her information in the past — each relationship falling to the back seat of Madison's drive as a reporter. The story has a lot of good. First and foremost is the featuring of two intelligent queer women of color, as well as quite a few other characters of various ethnicities. The graphics are well done by Clare Roe and Miguel Muerto. They are stark and dramatic and add to the noir vibe. Often the intensity and skill of the graphics overshadow the story.
Even though the story is interesting and frequently even compelling, the lack of cohesion and uneven pacing left me unattached and cold. I wanted to become vested in the characters and enthralled with the crime story, but it was so sporadic that part of the time, mainly in the middle, I couldn't tell what was going on. This is especially bad in crime stories where the intensity and building of plot tension are critical.
I recommend this read for people who love crime stories, but not much more than that. I think there are more engaging stories of this genre out there to start with. Check out Transmetropolitan or Criminal by Ed Brubaker to start.
3 out of 5 stars
The story revolves around Madison Jackson, an intrepid intern journalist at the fictionalized newspaper The Boston Lede. Madison is desperate to sink her journalistic incisors into a huge story, something that can put her on the map and prove her chops. Madison follows a police scanner to the murder of a prominent Boston citizen. The sole suspect is a woman named Delilah Kennedy. For some reason, Delilah has claimed the violent crime as her own and will only talk to Madison. The reasons for this are unclear. Delilah dangles tidbits to Madison and riddles. Madison, hungry for a story, tap dances to Delilah's tune. They pace around each other like hungry lionesses verbally sparring and looking for weakness.
In the meantime, Madison flubs her personal life repeatedly. She starts an intense physical relationship with her co-worker and with a young police officer that has fed her information in the past — each relationship falling to the back seat of Madison's drive as a reporter. The story has a lot of good. First and foremost is the featuring of two intelligent queer women of color, as well as quite a few other characters of various ethnicities. The graphics are well done by Clare Roe and Miguel Muerto. They are stark and dramatic and add to the noir vibe. Often the intensity and skill of the graphics overshadow the story.
Even though the story is interesting and frequently even compelling, the lack of cohesion and uneven pacing left me unattached and cold. I wanted to become vested in the characters and enthralled with the crime story, but it was so sporadic that part of the time, mainly in the middle, I couldn't tell what was going on. This is especially bad in crime stories where the intensity and building of plot tension are critical.
I recommend this read for people who love crime stories, but not much more than that. I think there are more engaging stories of this genre out there to start with. Check out Transmetropolitan or Criminal by Ed Brubaker to start.
3 out of 5 stars
liketheday's review
2.0
I forgot a book to read at work and found this on the shelf and it looked cool and like something I could read in a lunch break, and it was definitely the latter.
The art style is great and the story started off strong, but it lacked the focus needed in a graphic novel this short. I would much rather have read a short story of the same number of pages so I could get more exposition and internal thoughts of these characters.
I liked the previous book I read by this author, and I'd definitely give another of her graphic novels a shot. This one just didn't do it for me.
The art style is great and the story started off strong, but it lacked the focus needed in a graphic novel this short. I would much rather have read a short story of the same number of pages so I could get more exposition and internal thoughts of these characters.
I liked the previous book I read by this author, and I'd definitely give another of her graphic novels a shot. This one just didn't do it for me.
fanickel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
oatmeal_oatmeal's review against another edition
2.5
An interesting story about a reporter’s descent into unethical self-interest. I flew through this book, partly because I was enjoying the artwork and partly due to the breakneck pace.
The primary mystery left me wanting more, and I felt like the plot was a little disjointed by the end. I wish there had been a little more time to solidify the central crime, flesh out the love interests, and dive into the ramifications of Maddy’s choices.
The primary mystery left me wanting more, and I felt like the plot was a little disjointed by the end. I wish there had been a little more time to solidify the central crime, flesh out the love interests, and dive into the ramifications of Maddy’s choices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
nlgauvreau's review against another edition
4.0
I read this in eBook format because, global pandemic and all (I read this in early April 2020), which wasn't a great format to read this. That said, I still read this in under three hours.
But, it was a good graphic novel, and I wish is had been around when I was taking News Editing and Ethic as an undergrad (as an example of all kind of things you SHOULDN'T do). It was also great to see gender, sexual orientation, and racial diversity both in a graphic novel and in the career represented in the graphic novel (while journalism is certainly more diverse than it once was, fictional representations aren't).
But, it was a good graphic novel, and I wish is had been around when I was taking News Editing and Ethic as an undergrad (as an example of all kind of things you SHOULDN'T do). It was also great to see gender, sexual orientation, and racial diversity both in a graphic novel and in the career represented in the graphic novel (while journalism is certainly more diverse than it once was, fictional representations aren't).
jkenna1990's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for a free review copy of this book.
This book is fantastic! The book is all about Madison, an intern for the Boston Lede and her quest to land a front page story. She gets her opportunity in the form of Dahlia Kennedy; a socialite accused of killing her husband and possibly her son as well. The newspaper sends more seasoned reporters to the jail to talk to her and get a story but she won't talk to anyone. Except Madison.
This is an amazing crime comic. I have read my fair shape of graphic novels and comic books and this one had me hooked pretty much right from the beginning. I really liked the pacing of this comic book. It pretty much starts off at a break neck speed and doesn't let up. I also really loved the representation that is in this comic book as well. Not only do we have a bi MC, we also have a bi, Catholic, Boston cop (which I have yet to see in a comic book), gay characters, and plenty of other rep that you will have to discover yourself. I would definitely recommend this comic book to anyone but especially fans of mystery or noir type books.
This book is fantastic! The book is all about Madison, an intern for the Boston Lede and her quest to land a front page story. She gets her opportunity in the form of Dahlia Kennedy; a socialite accused of killing her husband and possibly her son as well. The newspaper sends more seasoned reporters to the jail to talk to her and get a story but she won't talk to anyone. Except Madison.
This is an amazing crime comic. I have read my fair shape of graphic novels and comic books and this one had me hooked pretty much right from the beginning. I really liked the pacing of this comic book. It pretty much starts off at a break neck speed and doesn't let up. I also really loved the representation that is in this comic book as well. Not only do we have a bi MC, we also have a bi, Catholic, Boston cop (which I have yet to see in a comic book), gay characters, and plenty of other rep that you will have to discover yourself. I would definitely recommend this comic book to anyone but especially fans of mystery or noir type books.
thepiqht's review against another edition
3.0
Although the story itself has merit, the main character is a let down. It is true that she is unlikeable but that in itself is not a problem. The problem is that she is infuriating. There is no reason for her to be unlikeable. Most of the bad decisions she makes have no real motive behind them and seem to serve just as a way for the story to show her changing - the issue is, this happens way too early in the narrative. Her inner narrative and actions do not correspond with the motivations that the novel states that she has. For example, she’s eager for her source to talk but puts the phone down anytime that the source says something that she doesn’t like. She only has one source in the police force who is actually willing to talk and take a chance on her but is unnecessarily cruel to him with absolutely no prompting. It’s a shame because I did like the art and the idea of the story.
wesleyboy's review
1.0
A convoluted mess. Suspend all disbelief to get through this story. If you’re a fan of Brubaker, stay away. You’ll only be disappointed.