As we return to the “Scene of The Crime”, literally, we are reading a rerelease of Ed Brubaker’s graphic novel of the same name.

Image is bringing us along for the ride, to revisit and appreciate this book, a decade later!

While it is clearly an early crime noir book by Brubaker, the characters and story are strong enough to withstand the test of time.

Private Investigator Jack Herriman has been hired on a missing person case, and of course, everything goes wrong. He’s hot-headed, and gets his nose out of joint. Then he insists on putting the same nose where it don’t belong, see? And more trouble ensues. He’s not sure who he is, or where he’s going, but he leaves chaos in his wake and stays up nights to try to compensate. While he investigates a hippie cult, it’s clear that there is more to the ‘family’ than anyone is telling him.

Scene Of The Crime is wordier (at Brubaker’s own admission) than his work today, and the plot perhaps not compact and compressed, but this story is compelling, shaggy, and greatly entertaining. The artwork is a precursor to Sean Phillips’ years; Scene Of The Crime is pencilled by Michael Lark and inked by Lark and Phillips. Lark’s style is dark and linear, with good panel layouts and well-rendered characters. James Sinclair colours the book with a pale palette, which counterbalances the dark shapes and panel frames.

In addition to the story, there is a foreword by Brian Michael Bendis, an afterword by Brubaker, a short story featuring the same characters, plus covers, pencilled pages, and biographies of the key creative team.

Image, Scene Of The Crime graphic novel, $16.99 for 132 pages of content. Mature Crime Fiction

By Alan Spinney

After a career of graphic design, art direction and copywriting, I still have a passion for words and pictures. I love it when a comic book comes together; the story is tight, and the drawings lead me forward. Art with words... the toughest storytelling technique to get right. Was this comic book worth your money? Let's see!!

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