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robotswithpersonality's review
A stylish, dystopic sci fi detective noir about privacy, freedom, isolation and connection, looking back at our current technological age and forward to possible dramatic difference with an equally jaundiced eye. More questions raised than points made. As much sex/nudity/violence as I've come to expect from Vaughan after Saga.
joshuamt's review
5.0
Graphic Cybernoir, or something like that. Brian Vaughan is becoming his own genre, and he is reliably superb.
squidjum's review
5.0
Saga was my first work by BKV, and I loved it, but Private Eye, a slightly earlier work, does not disappoint! highly recommend this to any librarian, critical information scholar, or other MI type.
harrimyers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
quick read with an interesting if cheesy premise, some of these panels and pages were absolutely stellar and for the most part i loved the art. the characters were classic vaughan characters, diverse and blunt about it but with no frills. pretty decent story but didnt connect to the characters or the themes as much as i thought i might. a fun if quick garish read at times
drecords's review
2.0
My least favorite Vaughan. I remember when this first came out exclusively online with pay-what-you-can prices and I thought that it would work like Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”. Reading it digitally was such a pain in the ass because it wasn’t 8.5x11. I got a deal on the published physical copy they did years later and it was fine. Interesting idea of the “cloud burst” where all private information becomes public and the internet gets shut down. But it felt underdeveloped after that initial though. Vaughan’s characters are usually so much more interesting and relatable. These just felt like faded copies of noir stories. Anyway, looks beautiful.
ewg109's review
4.0
It took me a minute to get into it, but one of the best concepts I've read in ages.
wbfreema's review
5.0
I don't know how one author can fire on all cylinders and keep hitting them out of the park the way Vaughn does. Equal parts semi-dystopian cautionary tale and hard boiled noire. Nice little nods to great works of those genres. Great art. The "widescreen" book format works very well, thematically to the story, too. Can't recommend enough.
michael_benavidez's review
5.0
Another five star review, ain't that a surprise? Honestly I think I've been lucky with graphic novels so far, finding those with topics I enjoy, and doing them right, or hell surpassing what I like and going the next level.
So Private Eye is something rather amazing. The world it inhabits is colorful but shrouded in mystery. As is the norm, actually. This is a future that is the exact opposite of the world we live in now, and it knows it. Today's generation is all about staying connected to each other, sharing within a matter of seconds, and not caring who sees it (until it's too late). All of that came out when the cloud burst and everyone's private online, social life became available for the public viewing. ALL OF IT. Fetishes, and the like.
Now the future is all about anonymity. Everyone keeps everything close to the chest, and it's not even seen as suspicious. Nope, here the Press are in charge of police duty, here there is no online social media anythings. It's all about hiding, and people like it that way.
Well some people.
Enter our Private Eye, our great noir detective who will do anything for a buck, who meets his femme counterpart(s), and who is dragged into a deep conspiracy that has him swimming over his head.
Actually it's not that deep, it is but it isn't. The mystery aspect of this is dealt pretty awesome, that it doesn't linger and just wave clues in your face without any meaning. It's also something with a lot of social commentary, so it's pretty deep.
The best part? It doesn't choose a side. The main character has his view, the bad guy has his view, the side characters have their ideas, and they all kinda mesh into one another. Where one offers and argument, there's a pretty valid counter-argument. You'd think that if they weren't so busy trying to kill each other, they could hold this debate for months on end, and still end in a stalemate. That's what i love about this, it knows there are no right or wrong answers, as with anything, everything comes at a cost, with it's own pros and cons.
I suggest giving it a read.
I read the printed version, but apparently it was written and made for reading online (pretty funny considering the concept and ideas in the book). So that's probably the way it was meant to read. The Cloudburst edition though is still pretty damn good. The art fits the world, the characters come to life past their two-dimensional cliche types, and it all meshes fantastically.
So Private Eye is something rather amazing. The world it inhabits is colorful but shrouded in mystery. As is the norm, actually. This is a future that is the exact opposite of the world we live in now, and it knows it. Today's generation is all about staying connected to each other, sharing within a matter of seconds, and not caring who sees it (until it's too late). All of that came out when the cloud burst and everyone's private online, social life became available for the public viewing. ALL OF IT. Fetishes, and the like.
Now the future is all about anonymity. Everyone keeps everything close to the chest, and it's not even seen as suspicious. Nope, here the Press are in charge of police duty, here there is no online social media anythings. It's all about hiding, and people like it that way.
Well some people.
Enter our Private Eye, our great noir detective who will do anything for a buck, who meets his femme counterpart(s), and who is dragged into a deep conspiracy that has him swimming over his head.
Actually it's not that deep, it is but it isn't. The mystery aspect of this is dealt pretty awesome, that it doesn't linger and just wave clues in your face without any meaning. It's also something with a lot of social commentary, so it's pretty deep.
The best part? It doesn't choose a side. The main character has his view, the bad guy has his view, the side characters have their ideas, and they all kinda mesh into one another. Where one offers and argument, there's a pretty valid counter-argument. You'd think that if they weren't so busy trying to kill each other, they could hold this debate for months on end, and still end in a stalemate. That's what i love about this, it knows there are no right or wrong answers, as with anything, everything comes at a cost, with it's own pros and cons.
I suggest giving it a read.
I read the printed version, but apparently it was written and made for reading online (pretty funny considering the concept and ideas in the book). So that's probably the way it was meant to read. The Cloudburst edition though is still pretty damn good. The art fits the world, the characters come to life past their two-dimensional cliche types, and it all meshes fantastically.
kronaar's review
3.0
Interesting concept and world-building are but mere fluff in an otherwise rather predictable and cliché-ridden story. Artwork is at times simply badly drawn. A letdown.