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Bodies #1-8
Cadáveres
VERTIGO brings you a graphic novel with four detectives, four time periods, and four dead bodies - all set in London. Edmond Hillinghead is an 1890s overachiever who's trying to solve a murder no one cares about while hiding his own secret. Karl Whiteman is our dashing 1940s adventurer with a shocking past. Shahara Hasan is 2014's kickass female Detective Sergeant, who walks the line between religion and power. And Maplewood, an amnesiac from post-apocalyptic 2050, brings a haunting perspective to it all.
Si Spencer (HELLBLAZER: CITY OF DEMONS, THE VINYL UNDERGROUND) executes a centuries-spanning murder mystery like nothing you've ever seen before, with four sensational artists illustrating a six-page chapter in each issue: Dean Ormston, Phil Winslade, Meghan Hetrick and Tula Lotay.
Collects BODIES #1-8, the complete miniseries.
Si Spencer (HELLBLAZER: CITY OF DEMONS, THE VINYL UNDERGROUND) executes a centuries-spanning murder mystery like nothing you've ever seen before, with four sensational artists illustrating a six-page chapter in each issue: Dean Ormston, Phil Winslade, Meghan Hetrick and Tula Lotay.
Collects BODIES #1-8, the complete miniseries.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published July 30, 2014
42 people are currently reading
1909 people want to read
About the author
Si Spencer
127 books34 followersBritish Writer and editor for both comics and television. Best known in the US for his work at DC/Vertigo.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews
January 28, 2020
Confession: I rescued this out of the bargain bin for the cover. The featured babe splattered with blood; however, has nothing to do with the plot. Me -> sucker.
Even my wife wasn’t fooled: “You bought this for the cover didn’t you?”
Me: “No.”
The plot is centered around a one-eyed body that turns up over four different time periods in England all with different artwork. Neato!
The takeaway (and spoiler): The dead, grizzly corpse (aka John Bull) loves all merry old Englanders, whether they be gay, straight, Jewish, Muslim or a loon. Good to know and yay!
Bottom Line : Don’t buy this for the cover.
The body in the lane? Don’t ask. Just move along.
Even my wife wasn’t fooled: “You bought this for the cover didn’t you?”
Me: “No.”
The plot is centered around a one-eyed body that turns up over four different time periods in England all with different artwork. Neato!
The takeaway (and spoiler): The dead, grizzly corpse (aka John Bull) loves all merry old Englanders, whether they be gay, straight, Jewish, Muslim or a loon. Good to know and yay!
Bottom Line : Don’t buy this for the cover.
The body in the lane? Don’t ask. Just move along.
November 23, 2015
Four detectives, four different eras, one murder victim, same MO, same location - appearing to each detective. Who killed John Bull?
Bodies is a very tricky murder mystery to unpack and puzzle out but I will say it’s the first Vertigo book in some years that I really enjoyed. That comes with some caveats but, all said and done, it’s a fine comic.
The story is divided into four different storylines each drawn by a different artist: Edmond Hillinghead is a closeted detective in 1890, drawn by Dean Ormston; Karl Whiteman is a corrupt detective in 1940, drawn by Phil Winslade; Shahara Hasan is a female Muslim detective in 2014, drawn by Meghan Hetrick; and finally Maplewood is a detective/amnesiac terrorist in 2050, drawn by Tula Lotay. I really liked all the artists’ contributions - very solid work from everybody.
Si Spencer writes all the different parts and he does a fine job of presenting each in a different voice though the four artists help to separate the segments from one another with distinct visual styles. Colourist Lee Loughridge does excellent work too, giving each era a unique look and feel - dark and bloody for Victorian London, too bright and unbalanced for the future.
Each character is tasked with investigating the murder of an unknown man found in Longharvest Lane with similarities cropping up for each. Besides the identical victim in each era, a double h symbol “HH” appears for them all and phrases like “Know You Are Loved” are repeated.
I think the double H could be a reference to double helix which is the term given to double-stranded molecules like DNA. This ties into our bodies but also the main theme of the book: what makes up our national character. I should say this is a very British comic as Spencer seems to be focusing specifically on multiculturalism and cultural identity in Britain through his characters.
The four detectives could be classed as “outsiders”, ie. the non-traditional standard as opposed to the stereotypically “normal” British types: a gay man, a Jewish man, a Muslim woman, a mentally-ill young woman. But they’re all British - they are Britain, and they make up our country as much as any Anglo-Saxon straight person. Each is a strand of DNA in the national body.
You could look at Bodies as a character-driven piece, though it has a clear plot, and in that sense I think it’s very successful. Hillinghead, Whiteman and Hasan are all well-written characters who are distinct and real. Maplewood/Maggie May Belwood/Bounce - her character was straight up bizarre. I didn’t really understand any of the 2050 storyline to be honest and, though she’s supposed to be an amnesiac, she comes off as having borderline Alzheimer’s!
Besides Maplewood’s, the storylines themselves are also easy to follow, up to a point, and are very compelling. We see Hillinghead’s investigations lead him through the same Whitechapel streets “Saucy Jack” claimed his victims two years previously, up to the Masonic societies and a conspiracy seemingly along the lines of Alan Moore’s From Hell.
Whiteman’s unpleasant journey from the claws of the Nazis to setting himself up as a detective on-the-make in blitzed London is also interesting to see, though he’s very easily the most dislikeable figure in the group. Hasan’s storyline exploring race tensions in contemporary London through the prism of a young woman struggling with reconciling her two cultural identities as a Londoner and a Muslim in a difficult field like detective work is fascinating.
Here’s where the caveats come in: it is a really involving book with the mystery driving the reader on and the characters becoming more complex and interesting the further we get in. But by about the last fifty pages I realised there wasn’t going to be a satisfactory ending - Spencer had strung on the mystery and been much too cryptic for far too long and he wasn’t going to be able to tie it all together coherently. I don’t even know if that was the plan anyway, but I can’t say I fully understood all of what was happening.
So: Bodies is a great read - maybe a bit too long at 8 issues; it might’ve been more effective at 6 - but it’s an enjoyable journey that’s worth taking. There’s a lot to like here and Spencer’s created a rich, ambitious and unique story with some excellent characters and a fine mystery at its core.
That said, the ending is impenetrable and though you get the impression that it’s a happy ending, you’re not sure why - but then the weak ending doesn’t ruin the rest of the book either. Bodies is still mostly a really good comic so long as you don’t mind not knowing what’s happening at all times and can forgive the author being obtuse with the finale. Fans of Grant Morrison’s weirder stuff and David Lynch films will get the most out of this comic.
Bodies is a very tricky murder mystery to unpack and puzzle out but I will say it’s the first Vertigo book in some years that I really enjoyed. That comes with some caveats but, all said and done, it’s a fine comic.
The story is divided into four different storylines each drawn by a different artist: Edmond Hillinghead is a closeted detective in 1890, drawn by Dean Ormston; Karl Whiteman is a corrupt detective in 1940, drawn by Phil Winslade; Shahara Hasan is a female Muslim detective in 2014, drawn by Meghan Hetrick; and finally Maplewood is a detective/amnesiac terrorist in 2050, drawn by Tula Lotay. I really liked all the artists’ contributions - very solid work from everybody.
Si Spencer writes all the different parts and he does a fine job of presenting each in a different voice though the four artists help to separate the segments from one another with distinct visual styles. Colourist Lee Loughridge does excellent work too, giving each era a unique look and feel - dark and bloody for Victorian London, too bright and unbalanced for the future.
Each character is tasked with investigating the murder of an unknown man found in Longharvest Lane with similarities cropping up for each. Besides the identical victim in each era, a double h symbol “HH” appears for them all and phrases like “Know You Are Loved” are repeated.
I think the double H could be a reference to double helix which is the term given to double-stranded molecules like DNA. This ties into our bodies but also the main theme of the book: what makes up our national character. I should say this is a very British comic as Spencer seems to be focusing specifically on multiculturalism and cultural identity in Britain through his characters.
The four detectives could be classed as “outsiders”, ie. the non-traditional standard as opposed to the stereotypically “normal” British types: a gay man, a Jewish man, a Muslim woman, a mentally-ill young woman. But they’re all British - they are Britain, and they make up our country as much as any Anglo-Saxon straight person. Each is a strand of DNA in the national body.
You could look at Bodies as a character-driven piece, though it has a clear plot, and in that sense I think it’s very successful. Hillinghead, Whiteman and Hasan are all well-written characters who are distinct and real. Maplewood/Maggie May Belwood/Bounce - her character was straight up bizarre. I didn’t really understand any of the 2050 storyline to be honest and, though she’s supposed to be an amnesiac, she comes off as having borderline Alzheimer’s!
Besides Maplewood’s, the storylines themselves are also easy to follow, up to a point, and are very compelling. We see Hillinghead’s investigations lead him through the same Whitechapel streets “Saucy Jack” claimed his victims two years previously, up to the Masonic societies and a conspiracy seemingly along the lines of Alan Moore’s From Hell.
Whiteman’s unpleasant journey from the claws of the Nazis to setting himself up as a detective on-the-make in blitzed London is also interesting to see, though he’s very easily the most dislikeable figure in the group. Hasan’s storyline exploring race tensions in contemporary London through the prism of a young woman struggling with reconciling her two cultural identities as a Londoner and a Muslim in a difficult field like detective work is fascinating.
Here’s where the caveats come in: it is a really involving book with the mystery driving the reader on and the characters becoming more complex and interesting the further we get in. But by about the last fifty pages I realised there wasn’t going to be a satisfactory ending - Spencer had strung on the mystery and been much too cryptic for far too long and he wasn’t going to be able to tie it all together coherently. I don’t even know if that was the plan anyway, but I can’t say I fully understood all of what was happening.
So: Bodies is a great read - maybe a bit too long at 8 issues; it might’ve been more effective at 6 - but it’s an enjoyable journey that’s worth taking. There’s a lot to like here and Spencer’s created a rich, ambitious and unique story with some excellent characters and a fine mystery at its core.
That said, the ending is impenetrable and though you get the impression that it’s a happy ending, you’re not sure why - but then the weak ending doesn’t ruin the rest of the book either. Bodies is still mostly a really good comic so long as you don’t mind not knowing what’s happening at all times and can forgive the author being obtuse with the finale. Fans of Grant Morrison’s weirder stuff and David Lynch films will get the most out of this comic.
April 2, 2016
A very ambitious book with a sort of patriotic message for and about Olde England (and the wider world): Stay tolerant and as you always have been--richly multicultural. That part of it is a tad preachy, though it's a message of tolerance I happen to agree with, in the debate about immigration everywhere.
There's no sense trying to do a proper review as thorough and insightful as Sam Quixote's, so read that, I'd say. I learned a lot, as usual, from him.
The basic idea is that a murder happens in four different periods in the same location in London: 1890, 1940, 2014, 2050. Four different "non-traditional" (that is to say, not Sherlock Holmes) detectives are on the case each in every period; a gay man, a Muslim woman, a corrupt guy, a crazy/amnesiac woman. All told by Spencer, and drawn and illustrated by four different artists, and colored by one colorist in very different styles. Has potential, yes? I think it does, and it may be better than I say, since I am not sure what it all means, really. Maybe.
There's a few things to not like besides the aforementioned preaching:
*The title is not descriptive. Well, there ARE four bodies, but this is about ideas, not bodies. Murdered bodies, okay, but it's what gets these bodies murdered that the book is about. If it's REALLY about bodies in some metaphysical sense, then it is too esoterically configured here.
*The use of "HH" is a marker throughout is confusing, though Sam's double helix theory is probably right. Until I read his review I literally had no idea what was going on.
* The phrase "Know you are loved" is said throughout, in every period. Where does that come from? Somebody tell me!! I assume it is something commonplace that I just don't know. I like intertextual clues-y books, I teach English, but I had no idea here.
*The ending is confusing.
*Because there are a lot of ideas here, HH, Mithras, dybbuks, and so on, that you have to know a bit about to make sense of the ending.
**The cover I initially liked quite a bit, it was why I picked it up at the library off the shelf, though I have to say a brightly colored 40s woman whose white blouse is a bit spattered with blood is not what this book is about. It's like it's about that tv show, Dexter, a dark comedy about serial killers. That cover is confusing.
And you either love or not the four different artists reflecting four different periods of art and history. I liked the idea of it more than the actual clash of artwork, finally, though I get it and acknowledge it as interesting.
I like:
*that message, as I said
*the ambition itself. Spencer gets a point for that from me, if not from all of the Goodreads readers who absolutely HATED this comic as merely confusing and incoherent. It IS confusing, and it MAY be incoherent, I'm not yet sure.
*each individual story quite a bit.
*Spencer's attempt to link all the murders ideologically
*the period dialogue, usually.
*the Muslim woman detective a lot.
Overall, it was fun and challenging to read. A very British comic, as Sam sez.
There's no sense trying to do a proper review as thorough and insightful as Sam Quixote's, so read that, I'd say. I learned a lot, as usual, from him.
The basic idea is that a murder happens in four different periods in the same location in London: 1890, 1940, 2014, 2050. Four different "non-traditional" (that is to say, not Sherlock Holmes) detectives are on the case each in every period; a gay man, a Muslim woman, a corrupt guy, a crazy/amnesiac woman. All told by Spencer, and drawn and illustrated by four different artists, and colored by one colorist in very different styles. Has potential, yes? I think it does, and it may be better than I say, since I am not sure what it all means, really. Maybe.
There's a few things to not like besides the aforementioned preaching:
*The title is not descriptive. Well, there ARE four bodies, but this is about ideas, not bodies. Murdered bodies, okay, but it's what gets these bodies murdered that the book is about. If it's REALLY about bodies in some metaphysical sense, then it is too esoterically configured here.
*The use of "HH" is a marker throughout is confusing, though Sam's double helix theory is probably right. Until I read his review I literally had no idea what was going on.
* The phrase "Know you are loved" is said throughout, in every period. Where does that come from? Somebody tell me!! I assume it is something commonplace that I just don't know. I like intertextual clues-y books, I teach English, but I had no idea here.
*The ending is confusing.
*Because there are a lot of ideas here, HH, Mithras, dybbuks, and so on, that you have to know a bit about to make sense of the ending.
**The cover I initially liked quite a bit, it was why I picked it up at the library off the shelf, though I have to say a brightly colored 40s woman whose white blouse is a bit spattered with blood is not what this book is about. It's like it's about that tv show, Dexter, a dark comedy about serial killers. That cover is confusing.
And you either love or not the four different artists reflecting four different periods of art and history. I liked the idea of it more than the actual clash of artwork, finally, though I get it and acknowledge it as interesting.
I like:
*that message, as I said
*the ambition itself. Spencer gets a point for that from me, if not from all of the Goodreads readers who absolutely HATED this comic as merely confusing and incoherent. It IS confusing, and it MAY be incoherent, I'm not yet sure.
*each individual story quite a bit.
*Spencer's attempt to link all the murders ideologically
*the period dialogue, usually.
*the Muslim woman detective a lot.
Overall, it was fun and challenging to read. A very British comic, as Sam sez.
April 27, 2015
(Received from Netgalley for review.)
I admit to not knowing the first thing about this book before I requested it from Netgalley. But I was intrigued by the cover, with its blood-spattered pinup, and the idea of a murder mystery spanning over a century was right up my alley. And it all starts very strongly. The individual detectives are all quite distinctive from each other. And though I didn't particularly like two of the four (the 40s detective on the make and the futuristic amnesiac) I quite liked reading the other two's stories. The repressed Victorian detective was a decent piece of period work, and the present day Muslim detective was by far my favorite character.
And then the ending becomes increasingly out there, and it just wasn't working for me. Maybe it will work for other readers, and maybe I just wasn't up for the major twist in tone towards the end. But it also felt a little preachy in the last few pages, and I don't know if I'd ever be entirely up for that. Still, there's some solid work here, and an ambitious concept, and I think the writer's heart is in the right place.
I admit to not knowing the first thing about this book before I requested it from Netgalley. But I was intrigued by the cover, with its blood-spattered pinup, and the idea of a murder mystery spanning over a century was right up my alley. And it all starts very strongly. The individual detectives are all quite distinctive from each other. And though I didn't particularly like two of the four (the 40s detective on the make and the futuristic amnesiac) I quite liked reading the other two's stories. The repressed Victorian detective was a decent piece of period work, and the present day Muslim detective was by far my favorite character.
And then the ending becomes increasingly out there, and it just wasn't working for me. Maybe it will work for other readers, and maybe I just wasn't up for the major twist in tone towards the end. But it also felt a little preachy in the last few pages, and I don't know if I'd ever be entirely up for that. Still, there's some solid work here, and an ambitious concept, and I think the writer's heart is in the right place.
July 11, 2015
4.5 stars
This may be the one that breaks me of looking at GR ratings. Yes, I realize I should have been ignoring them all along in favor of reviews, but it's hard! Reviews on this book are all "I don't understand! (1 star)" "I was confused! (2 stars)" "I was expecting something simplistic because comic book how dare this be moderately complex! whaa!"
Ok, maybe that last one is unfair, but I really don't feel that these comics are worthy of those ratings. Sam's review nails this one, though I liked the ending, so read that.
I really think the trouble here is expectations. The cover art is not indicative of any of the internal art, though I think that is a cop-out because that is the case for almost all comics. There is a heavy dose of scifi/fantasy/something that comes on unexpectedly and plays a central role in the whole thing. If one was expecting murder investigations covering 200 years to follow our reality, one may find things off-putting. And, of course, it is fairly complex compared to your average comic.
But there's the warning. This is involved, doesn't tell you everything, has a strong dose of wtfery throughout, and is really quite good. Now I need to see what else I've put off reading due to its low GR rating.
This may be the one that breaks me of looking at GR ratings. Yes, I realize I should have been ignoring them all along in favor of reviews, but it's hard! Reviews on this book are all "I don't understand! (1 star)" "I was confused! (2 stars)" "I was expecting something simplistic because comic book how dare this be moderately complex! whaa!"
Ok, maybe that last one is unfair, but I really don't feel that these comics are worthy of those ratings. Sam's review nails this one, though I liked the ending, so read that.
I really think the trouble here is expectations. The cover art is not indicative of any of the internal art, though I think that is a cop-out because that is the case for almost all comics. There is a heavy dose of scifi/fantasy/something that comes on unexpectedly and plays a central role in the whole thing. If one was expecting murder investigations covering 200 years to follow our reality, one may find things off-putting. And, of course, it is fairly complex compared to your average comic.
But there's the warning. This is involved, doesn't tell you everything, has a strong dose of wtfery throughout, and is really quite good. Now I need to see what else I've put off reading due to its low GR rating.
September 20, 2015
DNF! Din't like the art, dind't like the story. Well, I liked the part from 2014, but the rest was frankly just boring and the art made my head hurt! Damn you nice cover!
½ star
I received this copy from Vertigo through Edewleiss in return for an honest review!
½ star
I received this copy from Vertigo through Edewleiss in return for an honest review!
December 24, 2015
Great book. Please, don't look at the GR rating, it is bullshit. This story is good.
At its core, it is a story about love and compassion, and about (author's) patriotism and love for England.
It has a great and intriguing concept, solid writing, beautiful artist collaboration (four different artists drawing each their separate story from different time periods in London: 1890, 1940, 2014-15 and some weird future), each artist doing great job. But most of all this story has heart.
Yes, there are some weird parts, but stick with it anyway. Give this book a chance. It is one of the better recent Vertigo titles.
At its core, it is a story about love and compassion, and about (author's) patriotism and love for England.
It has a great and intriguing concept, solid writing, beautiful artist collaboration (four different artists drawing each their separate story from different time periods in London: 1890, 1940, 2014-15 and some weird future), each artist doing great job. But most of all this story has heart.
Yes, there are some weird parts, but stick with it anyway. Give this book a chance. It is one of the better recent Vertigo titles.
January 27, 2016
Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
First I need to point out this groovy cover - great right? Draws the eye, it's pin-up, pulp, fun, and blood splattered.
It's hard to describe the plot well since it's too confusing for my simple brain; plus this is catered more for the British audience. I think they'll get the cultural identity conflicts and connections stronger than I can.
Basically the collection (8 series joined together in one edition) jumps frequently between four different detectives in London over four time periods. Edmond Hillinghead in the 1890s, Karl Whiteman in the 1940s, Shahara Hasan in 2014, and Maplewood in 2050. Each detective finds a dead body, a weird symbol, and frequent lines said to them, "You are loved."
Edmond was my favorite with his bizarre secrets and even if the events in his time period were just as twisted as the others, it seemed somehow less flummoxing. Karl just comes across as an asshat who dresses the best. Shahara worked as a different, strong woman who didn't take crap from her co-workers but retained a sense of humor. I detested the annoying Maplewood - she and the other characters in 2050 irked me.
The unusual style of shifting these story lines took awhile to get used to. By the time I was used to it in the middle, it had worn thin on me by the end. And the end is not a big bang explosion, but a soft finale. With all the back and forth, I'm not sure if something better could have been creaked out by that point.
A saving technique would to have the flashbacks less frequent, sections of the story being in one time period instead of shifting all the time, with the end and it coming together. I realize since it was a serial published independently, that probably wasn't possible - but it would have made reading this compilation more enjoyable.
There's violence, but nothing gore-drenched. You get blood when it should be there. There's some mild sex silhouette scenes. Kudos dished out for the artwork, it totally worked. The story may have had one author, but he used four artists for the different time periods. I liked that concept. The future stands out as bright, blocky and manic with its uncomfortable intensity. I can almost feel the noir style seep through the pages in the subdued 1940s. 2014 displays a calmer but deeper, more convincing colorization. The 1890s were dark, broody, and rocked the bloody scenes.
Overall this wasn't a bad deal, but it wasn't something my brain likes wrapping around. I don't care for frequent shifts, and the confusion caused by this was too tiring to be enjoyable. The art is stunning, like the colorization differences among time periods, the storyline just failed to impress.
May 11, 2025
PT Ok, vamos por partes, como diria o Jack, o Estripador.
Esta obra é narrada em quatro momentos distintos no tempo — 1890, 1940, 2014 e 2050 —, sendo cada um deles ilustrado por um artista diferente e com direções artísticas igualmente distintas. Embora o argumento seja inteiramente de Si Spencer, nota-se uma variação de tom entre as épocas. As secções de 1890 e 2014 são, a meu ver, as mais bem conseguidas. A arte de Dean Ormston, em particular, está excelente, e adorei a detetive Shahara Hasan de 2014 — provavelmente a melhor personagem de toda a narrativa. Já as páginas de 2050... são para esquecer. Se tivesse de avaliar o livro apenas com base nessa parte, dar-lhe-ia uma estrela. Horrível. Nem percebo a utilidade dessa linha temporal na história.
Com exceção de 2050, a escrita de Si Spencer é bastante sólida e de leitura agradável, tal como o trabalho visual dos restantes artistas. O problema é que a história, no seu todo, é extremamente confusa. Tão confusa que terminei a leitura sem conseguir compreender por completo o propósito de tudo aquilo que li.
Confesso que fiquei curioso em espreitar a adaptação da Netflix — nem que seja só o primeiro episódio — para ver se consigo perceber melhor o enredo.
Acredito que uma releitura possa ajudar a clarificar certas partes, mas numa primeira abordagem a experiência revelou-se demasiado confusa, sem que se perceba o motivo dessa escolha narrativa. Uma abordagem mais clara teria, sem dúvida, beneficiado a obra.
--
EN Alright, let’s take this piece by piece — just like Jack the Ripper would.
This story unfolds across four distinct time periods — 1890, 1940, 2014, and 2050 — each illustrated by a different artist and with its own unique artistic direction. Although the entire script is by Si Spencer, the tone does shift slightly between eras. In my opinion, the 1890 and 2014 segments are by far the strongest. Dean Ormston’s artwork, in particular, is excellent, and I absolutely loved Detective Shahara Hasan from 2014 — probably the best character in the whole story. As for the 2050 section… best to forget it even exists. If I had to rate the book based solely on that part, it would get one star. Awful. I honestly don’t understand what that timeline adds to the story.
Apart from 2050, Si Spencer’s writing is quite solid and easy to read, and the illustrations are equally competent. The real issue lies in the plot, which is incredibly confusing. So confusing, in fact, that I finished the book without fully understanding what it was all meant to convey.
I’ll admit I’m curious to check out the Netflix adaptation — at least the first episode — just to see if it helps make more sense of everything.
I believe rereading the book might help me better grasp the narrative, but on a first read, it’s genuinely perplexing. I don’t understand why the author chose such a convoluted approach, especially when a clearer path could have made the whole work far more compelling.
Esta obra é narrada em quatro momentos distintos no tempo — 1890, 1940, 2014 e 2050 —, sendo cada um deles ilustrado por um artista diferente e com direções artísticas igualmente distintas. Embora o argumento seja inteiramente de Si Spencer, nota-se uma variação de tom entre as épocas. As secções de 1890 e 2014 são, a meu ver, as mais bem conseguidas. A arte de Dean Ormston, em particular, está excelente, e adorei a detetive Shahara Hasan de 2014 — provavelmente a melhor personagem de toda a narrativa. Já as páginas de 2050... são para esquecer. Se tivesse de avaliar o livro apenas com base nessa parte, dar-lhe-ia uma estrela. Horrível. Nem percebo a utilidade dessa linha temporal na história.
Com exceção de 2050, a escrita de Si Spencer é bastante sólida e de leitura agradável, tal como o trabalho visual dos restantes artistas. O problema é que a história, no seu todo, é extremamente confusa. Tão confusa que terminei a leitura sem conseguir compreender por completo o propósito de tudo aquilo que li.
Confesso que fiquei curioso em espreitar a adaptação da Netflix — nem que seja só o primeiro episódio — para ver se consigo perceber melhor o enredo.
Acredito que uma releitura possa ajudar a clarificar certas partes, mas numa primeira abordagem a experiência revelou-se demasiado confusa, sem que se perceba o motivo dessa escolha narrativa. Uma abordagem mais clara teria, sem dúvida, beneficiado a obra.
--
EN Alright, let’s take this piece by piece — just like Jack the Ripper would.
This story unfolds across four distinct time periods — 1890, 1940, 2014, and 2050 — each illustrated by a different artist and with its own unique artistic direction. Although the entire script is by Si Spencer, the tone does shift slightly between eras. In my opinion, the 1890 and 2014 segments are by far the strongest. Dean Ormston’s artwork, in particular, is excellent, and I absolutely loved Detective Shahara Hasan from 2014 — probably the best character in the whole story. As for the 2050 section… best to forget it even exists. If I had to rate the book based solely on that part, it would get one star. Awful. I honestly don’t understand what that timeline adds to the story.
Apart from 2050, Si Spencer’s writing is quite solid and easy to read, and the illustrations are equally competent. The real issue lies in the plot, which is incredibly confusing. So confusing, in fact, that I finished the book without fully understanding what it was all meant to convey.
I’ll admit I’m curious to check out the Netflix adaptation — at least the first episode — just to see if it helps make more sense of everything.
I believe rereading the book might help me better grasp the narrative, but on a first read, it’s genuinely perplexing. I don’t understand why the author chose such a convoluted approach, especially when a clearer path could have made the whole work far more compelling.
April 5, 2018
I've never been more scared about the phrase : Know You're Loved, in my life.
This is a story to leave you feeling sick and icky everywhere. Whenever I read an issue, I felt disgust over something, whether it was the sex, or the racism, or the repetitive phrase that took forever for me to figure out. Hence, go into this story knowing this will not be a pleasant journey.
The story follows four detectives, Edmond Hillinghead, working after the times of Jack the Ripper; Karl Whiteman, a very corrupt man in 1940; Shahara Hasan, a Muslim woman in 2014 who is facing fascists; and Maplewood, filled with amnesia in 2050, as they try to discovered who murdered a man filled with scars, missing an eye, and double h's crossed carved on their arms. All but one detective was actually interesting, Mapplewood. I have no idea what the hell was going on with her, her character was too extreme for anyone to make any sense, and her plot-line was my least favourite.
I do adore that each of these characters, no matter their background or story, are members of British society as much as anyone else, and that is the main point.
The ending was a sort of letdown, too obtuse for my taste, but better than a lot of the comics I've read. So, if you like weird characters, murder mysteries spanning a few centuries but easy to finish, gory art, incomprehensible narrators, a creepy phrase, secret organizations, and an okay ending, this is the book for you.
December 11, 2023
Hearing the hype around this one since the Netflix series dropped, I figured I should give it a read.
Can't say it was quite my fare!
It's bizarre and strange and some of the language is really hard to get a solid grip on. It took me a lot of time to work out what was happening and I'm still not entirely sure I know.
The premise surrounds four timelines and the identical body that's just dropped in each. Beyond that, it's a little hard to tell what the link is. The art is done by a different artist for each timeline, and that honestly was probably my favourite aspect of the whole thing. I loved the different styles and the way they matched their era.
The characters were a little too tricky to get a grip on to really feel one way or another about them. The whole thing felt like it was trying to build mystery and tension but then it was all just spat out so quickly that there wasn't really time for the suspense to grow. There's the notion of belonging, and the fight against discrimination, but it took me most of the story to work out that was important to the creators.
I found it intriguing for sure, and I loved how completely bizarre Maplewood was, but otherwise it was a bit too strange and vague for my tastes.
Very curious to check out the show, though - maybe it'll help me make sense of it all!
Can't say it was quite my fare!
It's bizarre and strange and some of the language is really hard to get a solid grip on. It took me a lot of time to work out what was happening and I'm still not entirely sure I know.
The premise surrounds four timelines and the identical body that's just dropped in each. Beyond that, it's a little hard to tell what the link is. The art is done by a different artist for each timeline, and that honestly was probably my favourite aspect of the whole thing. I loved the different styles and the way they matched their era.
The characters were a little too tricky to get a grip on to really feel one way or another about them. The whole thing felt like it was trying to build mystery and tension but then it was all just spat out so quickly that there wasn't really time for the suspense to grow. There's the notion of belonging, and the fight against discrimination, but it took me most of the story to work out that was important to the creators.
I found it intriguing for sure, and I loved how completely bizarre Maplewood was, but otherwise it was a bit too strange and vague for my tastes.
Very curious to check out the show, though - maybe it'll help me make sense of it all!
January 7, 2024
This is probably one of the worst books I've ever read.
I came here because I really liked the Netflix show, but this is nothing like it. I'm glad the show only took bits and pieces from this graphic novel because nothing here made logical sense. It felt like I ate too many gummies and I was tripping balls, and in the worst way possible.
I don't mind incoherent stories (the Locked Tomb series is my favorite), or gross out stories (I have a "fucked up books that I liked" tag), but none of the storylines in Bodies made sense. The characters I loved in the Netflix show were just caricatures here.
Idk. Maybe I'm just too dumb to understand the message and the storyline.
I did like the art though, hence the two stars.
I came here because I really liked the Netflix show, but this is nothing like it. I'm glad the show only took bits and pieces from this graphic novel because nothing here made logical sense. It felt like I ate too many gummies and I was tripping balls, and in the worst way possible.
I don't mind incoherent stories (the Locked Tomb series is my favorite), or gross out stories (I have a "fucked up books that I liked" tag), but none of the storylines in Bodies made sense. The characters I loved in the Netflix show were just caricatures here.
Idk. Maybe I'm just too dumb to understand the message and the storyline.
I did like the art though, hence the two stars.
July 29, 2015
DNF page 37.
This just wasn't doing it for me. It was a great idea, but it felt like it was trying far too hard to be quirky and different, and it just ended up being a chore to even read a page (never mind a character/era).
I received a copy of this for free via NetGalley for review purposes.
This just wasn't doing it for me. It was a great idea, but it felt like it was trying far too hard to be quirky and different, and it just ended up being a chore to even read a page (never mind a character/era).
I received a copy of this for free via NetGalley for review purposes.
March 6, 2016
I wish I could unread it.
September 10, 2015
I really, really, really want to discuss this book with someone who has read it.
The premise is phenomenal. The 4 time periods, brilliantly depicted by 4 different artists, giving each period its own distinct look and feel. Each artist does a tremendous job of bringing their time period to life. I was initially attracted to this book because of my interest in Tula Lotay's art, and was happy to see the contrasts and strengths of the other artists as well.
But it's the story I want to discuss with someone else who has read this. Surely, tying these 4 time periods together is an ambitious project. I can't tell if the writer bit off more than he could chew, or if he needed more pages to flesh out what he was trying to say. Or if he could have said it more succinctly were he not tied to the format of a set # of pages per time period per issue.
It's also possible that my vague understanding of the thread that ties the story together would be sharpened by nuances that I failed to pick up on (hence, my desire to talk about it with someone else). I really wanted to like this more than I did!! There are ideas about love, acceptance, identity and goodness -- all ideas I enjoy seeing tackled in the art I consume. I love encountering stories and art that illuminate these concepts via new contexts and frames of meaning. But I'm not sure that I understand what exactly is being said in this book. There seem to be good intentions of cool ideas that are just beyond my reach.
I definitely enjoyed the experience of reading this! I just wish I had finished it feeling more certain of what I just read.
The premise is phenomenal. The 4 time periods, brilliantly depicted by 4 different artists, giving each period its own distinct look and feel. Each artist does a tremendous job of bringing their time period to life. I was initially attracted to this book because of my interest in Tula Lotay's art, and was happy to see the contrasts and strengths of the other artists as well.
But it's the story I want to discuss with someone else who has read this. Surely, tying these 4 time periods together is an ambitious project. I can't tell if the writer bit off more than he could chew, or if he needed more pages to flesh out what he was trying to say. Or if he could have said it more succinctly were he not tied to the format of a set # of pages per time period per issue.
It's also possible that my vague understanding of the thread that ties the story together would be sharpened by nuances that I failed to pick up on (hence, my desire to talk about it with someone else). I really wanted to like this more than I did!! There are ideas about love, acceptance, identity and goodness -- all ideas I enjoy seeing tackled in the art I consume. I love encountering stories and art that illuminate these concepts via new contexts and frames of meaning. But I'm not sure that I understand what exactly is being said in this book. There seem to be good intentions of cool ideas that are just beyond my reach.
I definitely enjoyed the experience of reading this! I just wish I had finished it feeling more certain of what I just read.
June 26, 2015
Right, first of all, I don't recall ever having read a graphic novel before and know almost nothing about the form, so forgive me if I review Si Spencer's Bodies (originally released in eight episodes but now brought together in a single volume) in completely the wrong way: the last book I read that had speech bubbles was probably a Monster Fun annual so essentially I have no other graphic novels as a reference point.
Anyway. The initial set-up of Bodies is an absolute belter: there are four detectives, operating in four different time periods ... investigating what appears to be exactly the same murder. Same corpse, same position, same location and the same elements of what appears to be a ritualistic killing. The only thing that seems to connect the detectives is that they are all to some degree outsiders. Shahara Hasan is a hijab-wearing Muslim police officer in the present day. In Victorian London, Inspector Hillinghead is trying to conceal his homosexuality from his colleagues. In the Blitz-ravaged East End of 1940, Karl Weissman - or Charles Whiteman, as he prefers to be known - has escaped the Warsaw ghetto only to become a corrupt copper. Finally, far in the future, a young woman whose name may or may not be Maplewood has a brain so addled that she's barely aware what a corpse is at all. Throw in the cult of Mithras, apocalyptic pulse waves, neo-fascist terrorist groups, Jack The Ripper, psychogeography, potential shamanism and cryptically repeated instructions to 'know you are loved', and you have a dizzying, high-concept mystery with immense scope and ambition.
Unlike a lot of high-concept fiction, however, Bodies doesn't skimp on character: each detective has a strong individuality that comes through in the dialogue as well as their actions, and there isn't a stereotype in sight (this, in itself, is significant to the story). Neither does its undeniable cleverness come at the expense of a heart: there's plenty of humour, and also some genuinely affecting moments, not least in the final pages. If you don't feel find yourself a little misty-eyed at the ending, you may well have something wrong with you - especially if you happen to be English.
England and Englishness are central to Bodies - it's essentially a story of identity and culture. I don't think I'm giving too much away when I say that this not really a murder mystery at all, and the corpse, reappearing in the same location to different people at different times - people whose speech and thoughts carry occasional echoes of one another - has a symbolic significance to England.
And yet, as is clearly evident by the diversity of the characters and their circumstances, English identity can mean a million and one things to any and all of us, and is inextricably entangled in our endlessly complicated history and melting pot of cultures and influences, in our finest moments and our most shameful. This is reflected in Bodies not just in character but also in language and setting.
Throughout the book you'll find countless hints, clues, references and allusions, not just in the dialogue but in the names of people, places and things - and indeed within the artwork. In fact, by the time we reach Maplewood in 2050, her consciousness seems to consist of almost nothing else as she struggles to piece together snippets of memory and language into anything of which she can make some sort of sense. And is the murdered man re-appearing over and over again, like a reverberating echo through time? Or does he appear once, but in simultaneous time periods? Most importantly, are you confused yet? If not, you probably should be, because if you finish Bodies without wanting to go straight back and look for more things to try to understand, you've seriously missed out on the fun.
I've now realised that I've got through this whole review without mentioning the artwork, which is clearly incredibly important to the book. Each of the four detectives' stories has its own artist and its own colour palettes, which gives each time period a distinctive atmosphere. There's a smoky, noirish feel to the 1940s sections, which are visually my personal favourites - you can almost hear the eerie wail of distant air-raid sirens, and every frame is rendered with incredible detail. The Victorian storyline has hints of Hammer and steampunk, with a fantastic dark colour scheme with splashes of Ripper red. In 2050, Maplewood wanders through a disorientating, far more stylised world filtered through unnatural, suitably sickly neons, as befits her confused mental state. Shahara's investigation takes place in a gritty-looking environment of concrete blues and greys, as if we're looking at news footage or even CCTV. Despite the clear visual differences between each section, the different colour palettes used for each (the work of colourist Lee Loughridge) are carefully chosen to give the whole thing a sense of continuity and cohesion that isn't just visually pleasing but is also symbolically significant.
If you want a clear and straightforward mystery with all the loose ends tied up, you won't find that here: this book is strange, ambiguous, complicated and open to interpretation, like a jigsaw puzzle that constantly shifts and expands as you try to complete it, and occasionally turns into a crossword puzzle or a treasure hunt just for larks. However, I personally found it no less satisfying for that, and this is a book that I'll re-read over and over again.
Anyway. The initial set-up of Bodies is an absolute belter: there are four detectives, operating in four different time periods ... investigating what appears to be exactly the same murder. Same corpse, same position, same location and the same elements of what appears to be a ritualistic killing. The only thing that seems to connect the detectives is that they are all to some degree outsiders. Shahara Hasan is a hijab-wearing Muslim police officer in the present day. In Victorian London, Inspector Hillinghead is trying to conceal his homosexuality from his colleagues. In the Blitz-ravaged East End of 1940, Karl Weissman - or Charles Whiteman, as he prefers to be known - has escaped the Warsaw ghetto only to become a corrupt copper. Finally, far in the future, a young woman whose name may or may not be Maplewood has a brain so addled that she's barely aware what a corpse is at all. Throw in the cult of Mithras, apocalyptic pulse waves, neo-fascist terrorist groups, Jack The Ripper, psychogeography, potential shamanism and cryptically repeated instructions to 'know you are loved', and you have a dizzying, high-concept mystery with immense scope and ambition.
Unlike a lot of high-concept fiction, however, Bodies doesn't skimp on character: each detective has a strong individuality that comes through in the dialogue as well as their actions, and there isn't a stereotype in sight (this, in itself, is significant to the story). Neither does its undeniable cleverness come at the expense of a heart: there's plenty of humour, and also some genuinely affecting moments, not least in the final pages. If you don't feel find yourself a little misty-eyed at the ending, you may well have something wrong with you - especially if you happen to be English.
England and Englishness are central to Bodies - it's essentially a story of identity and culture. I don't think I'm giving too much away when I say that this not really a murder mystery at all, and the corpse, reappearing in the same location to different people at different times - people whose speech and thoughts carry occasional echoes of one another - has a symbolic significance to England.
And yet, as is clearly evident by the diversity of the characters and their circumstances, English identity can mean a million and one things to any and all of us, and is inextricably entangled in our endlessly complicated history and melting pot of cultures and influences, in our finest moments and our most shameful. This is reflected in Bodies not just in character but also in language and setting.
Throughout the book you'll find countless hints, clues, references and allusions, not just in the dialogue but in the names of people, places and things - and indeed within the artwork. In fact, by the time we reach Maplewood in 2050, her consciousness seems to consist of almost nothing else as she struggles to piece together snippets of memory and language into anything of which she can make some sort of sense. And is the murdered man re-appearing over and over again, like a reverberating echo through time? Or does he appear once, but in simultaneous time periods? Most importantly, are you confused yet? If not, you probably should be, because if you finish Bodies without wanting to go straight back and look for more things to try to understand, you've seriously missed out on the fun.
I've now realised that I've got through this whole review without mentioning the artwork, which is clearly incredibly important to the book. Each of the four detectives' stories has its own artist and its own colour palettes, which gives each time period a distinctive atmosphere. There's a smoky, noirish feel to the 1940s sections, which are visually my personal favourites - you can almost hear the eerie wail of distant air-raid sirens, and every frame is rendered with incredible detail. The Victorian storyline has hints of Hammer and steampunk, with a fantastic dark colour scheme with splashes of Ripper red. In 2050, Maplewood wanders through a disorientating, far more stylised world filtered through unnatural, suitably sickly neons, as befits her confused mental state. Shahara's investigation takes place in a gritty-looking environment of concrete blues and greys, as if we're looking at news footage or even CCTV. Despite the clear visual differences between each section, the different colour palettes used for each (the work of colourist Lee Loughridge) are carefully chosen to give the whole thing a sense of continuity and cohesion that isn't just visually pleasing but is also symbolically significant.
If you want a clear and straightforward mystery with all the loose ends tied up, you won't find that here: this book is strange, ambiguous, complicated and open to interpretation, like a jigsaw puzzle that constantly shifts and expands as you try to complete it, and occasionally turns into a crossword puzzle or a treasure hunt just for larks. However, I personally found it no less satisfying for that, and this is a book that I'll re-read over and over again.
November 1, 2023
This may remind you of some beloved and equally complex streaming television mini-series - - the weird, vague ones that hold your attention in spite of it all. I loved the premise of BODIES. There’s a weird mystery here, which connects each era - - the mutilated dead body of a one-eyed man. Such a novel idea, to tell four separate tales with this linking device. Also, four artists who are completely different from each other, altering their styles to suit the tenor of the scene and time their segment takes place in. Spencer writes the segments differently, further distinguishing each by having the main characters provide some of the narration in the text boxes and revealing their idiosyncrasies (all fascinating).
I also appreciated that Spencer grounded three of the scenes in the history of the times in which they occur: In 1890 London it’s Jack The Ripper; the rise of Nazism in 1940 London, and racist (anti-Muslim) riots in 2014 London. In 2050 London, Spencer adds a mind-scrambling “pulse wave” techno-apocalyptic plague. Add some secret societies, ritual killings , a symbolic double-H (double helix?) and you have the makings of an intriguing storyline.
Each of the main characters has a secret side, which as the course of the investigation progresses, is revealed. Inspector Edmond Hillinghead in 1890 London is a closet homosexual and hides his preferences in order to keep his job as well as keep out of jail (against the law in those times, even into the 1960’s). Charles Whiteman in 1940 London is a corrupt and brutal City Inspector who is Jewish (Karl Weissman) and fled Nazi Germany. Detective Sergeant Sahara Hasan is a female Muslim who at her core is more English than the majority of her police comrades, and has to make some hard decisions regarding which side she is on when riots break out in London 2014 in the name of prejudiced patriotism. In future 2050 London amnesiac young Maplewood utilizes the discovery of the body to combat the plague and re-orient herself in the real world and also trying to recall the horrid event that caused her amnesia. This was the haziest story arc in BODIES and I struggled to comprehend exactly what was occurring.
That vagueness is a setback to this series, which I would have rated five stars if the endings were more conclusive and clear. As the series nears the end, each episode becomes more hallucinogenic and spiritual. The one-eyed man appears in visions and speaks to each character. He doesn’t ever really identify himself but acts Godlike, and his message seems to be that God loves each character in spite of their differences, actions and secrets. In light of everything that has occurred up to this point, I’m not certain if that is the point that Spencer is trying to make. If this is a plea for tolerance I’m not sure that readers will actually come away receiving that message.
I also appreciated that Spencer grounded three of the scenes in the history of the times in which they occur: In 1890 London it’s Jack The Ripper; the rise of Nazism in 1940 London, and racist (anti-Muslim) riots in 2014 London. In 2050 London, Spencer adds a mind-scrambling “pulse wave” techno-apocalyptic plague. Add some secret societies, ritual killings , a symbolic double-H (double helix?) and you have the makings of an intriguing storyline.
Each of the main characters has a secret side, which as the course of the investigation progresses, is revealed. Inspector Edmond Hillinghead in 1890 London is a closet homosexual and hides his preferences in order to keep his job as well as keep out of jail (against the law in those times, even into the 1960’s). Charles Whiteman in 1940 London is a corrupt and brutal City Inspector who is Jewish (Karl Weissman) and fled Nazi Germany. Detective Sergeant Sahara Hasan is a female Muslim who at her core is more English than the majority of her police comrades, and has to make some hard decisions regarding which side she is on when riots break out in London 2014 in the name of prejudiced patriotism. In future 2050 London amnesiac young Maplewood utilizes the discovery of the body to combat the plague and re-orient herself in the real world and also trying to recall the horrid event that caused her amnesia. This was the haziest story arc in BODIES and I struggled to comprehend exactly what was occurring.
That vagueness is a setback to this series, which I would have rated five stars if the endings were more conclusive and clear. As the series nears the end, each episode becomes more hallucinogenic and spiritual. The one-eyed man appears in visions and speaks to each character. He doesn’t ever really identify himself but acts Godlike, and his message seems to be that God loves each character in spite of their differences, actions and secrets. In light of everything that has occurred up to this point, I’m not certain if that is the point that Spencer is trying to make. If this is a plea for tolerance I’m not sure that readers will actually come away receiving that message.
September 6, 2017
Rating system, 5-superior, 4-really enjoyed, 3-OK, 2-waste of time, 1-waste of paper.
An ambitious plot that suffers from the kitchen sink school of writing. The author tried too hard to make this shocking, and the basic story suffered from all the add ons to make this noir attitude. Mutilated bodies with four different detectives in four different time steams isn't enough, let's throw in jack the ripper, pedophillia, orgies, blood drinking, gratuitous torture, etc etc. He would have done better to have simplified his plot and made it clearer.
I did particularly like the art of Meghan Hetrick.
An ambitious plot that suffers from the kitchen sink school of writing. The author tried too hard to make this shocking, and the basic story suffered from all the add ons to make this noir attitude. Mutilated bodies with four different detectives in four different time steams isn't enough, let's throw in jack the ripper, pedophillia, orgies, blood drinking, gratuitous torture, etc etc. He would have done better to have simplified his plot and made it clearer.
I did particularly like the art of Meghan Hetrick.
July 29, 2015
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I requested this graphic novel because of the awesome cover. Then came in all the one star reviews from my friends and I started to get afraid of starting it.
Four detectives, four time periods, four completely different styles, one body.
It's always a tricky thing to pull off multiple timelines with different styles in one and the same story. In this case it didn't really work. The only two stories that could hold some of my interest were the 1890s and 2014 plots, although the 2014 one was the only one that really had an original idea following all the discrimination and racism a female, Muslim police officer has to endure.
The frequent jumps between the different story lines made it difficult to really get into the story, and the story to tie them all together wasn't that strong. I didn't really care for the art (although I liked some better than others).
For me, it was not a one star read, definitely not the worst I've read, but also definitely not as good as I had anticipated based on the cover.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I requested this graphic novel because of the awesome cover. Then came in all the one star reviews from my friends and I started to get afraid of starting it.
Four detectives, four time periods, four completely different styles, one body.
It's always a tricky thing to pull off multiple timelines with different styles in one and the same story. In this case it didn't really work. The only two stories that could hold some of my interest were the 1890s and 2014 plots, although the 2014 one was the only one that really had an original idea following all the discrimination and racism a female, Muslim police officer has to endure.
The frequent jumps between the different story lines made it difficult to really get into the story, and the story to tie them all together wasn't that strong. I didn't really care for the art (although I liked some better than others).
For me, it was not a one star read, definitely not the worst I've read, but also definitely not as good as I had anticipated based on the cover.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
April 17, 2018
What that hell of deception! The cover cheating on you if you think the story is about of the years of the drawing. How wrong I was! It's about many stories from four timelines: London, 1890 (Jack, The Ripper storyline), London, 1940 (gangster), London, 2014 (Etnian and multicultural problem) and London 2050, (a distopic future). All around about the founding of a death body in every year.
Didn't like the characters, didn't like the story, didn't like it. I just wanted more or another story behind the cover...
Didn't like the characters, didn't like the story, didn't like it. I just wanted more or another story behind the cover...
December 4, 2021
Not what I expected :(
I actually thought I had something good in my hands....not a bad start and could`ve been good to the end but....it was not long until I hated it :(
and not to mention the complete wrong idea that this author has about everything.
and the whole graphic :(
Nah :(
I actually thought I had something good in my hands....not a bad start and could`ve been good to the end but....it was not long until I hated it :(
and not to mention the complete wrong idea that this author has about everything.
and the whole graphic :(
Nah :(
December 11, 2023
The story was poorly developed, there were too much plotholes and I didn't get 80 percent of it. Too bad, I thought this could be a cool story. Instead the book ends with a ridiculously patriotic statement about England, how unpleasant.
August 9, 2024
Know You Are Loved
Zainspirowany świetnym serialem Netflixowym sięgnąłem po ten komiks, by bardziej zagłębić się w tą ciekawą historę. I nie spodziewałem się, że dostanę zupełnie inne doznania!
Jeżeli czytasz to i chcesz zrobić podobną rzecz co ja - od razu muszę Cię ostrzec. Fabuła serialu BARDZO luźno inspiruje się komiksem. Tutaj mamy brutalną i mroczną historię, która może nie przypaść Ci do gustu.
"Bodies" opowiada historię 4 detektywów:
W roku 1890, gdzie na ulicach Londynu grasuje Kuba Rozpruwacz a detektyw Edmond Hillinghead znajduje na Longharvest Lane tajemnicze zwłoki z nietypowym symbolem na ramieniu.
Uciekający od nalotu bombowców na Londyn w 1940 roku detektyw Charles Whiteman odkrywa dziwne zwłoki na Longharvest Lane z charakterystycznym symbolem na ramieniu.
Podczas agresywnej rasistowskiej demonstracji na uliach Londynu w roku 2014 detektyw Shahara Hasan znajduje martwego mężczyzne na Longharvest Lane.
W świecie pogrążonym zniszczeniu po nieznanym ataku bronią pulsacyjną ludzkość nic nie pamięta, jak i nie może niczego zapamiętać. Młoda kobieta znana jako Maplewood odkrywa zwłoki mężczyzny z dziwnym symbolem na ramieniu. Ze zniszczonej tabliczki drogowej widać jeszcze napisz "Longharvest Lane".
Chociaż ten opis przypomina bardzo to co znamy z serialu to na tym kończą się podobieństwa. Każdy z tych bohaterów ma różne cele i często nie są one związane ze znalezionymi zwłokami. Było to dla mnie zaskakujące, bo to co znaleźli na Longharvest Lane jest tylko katalizatorem do tego, z czym będą muszą się zmierzyć. I te historie są dla mnie największym plusem - są zaskakująco dojrzałe i zostawiają człowieka z pewnymi refleksjami.
Komiks do samego końca jest bardzo enigmatyczny - dopiero na ostatnich 15 stronach zaczęło się coś wyjaśniać. Za to daje mały minus, można byłoby dać więcej czasu na dokładniejsze wyjaśnienie wszystkich wątków.
Oprawa graficzna mnie uroczyła - każda historia jest opowiedziana innych stylem graficznych, dzięki temu nie gubiłem się, którą historię czytam i fantastycznie budowały one atmosferę danego okresu
Słowem podsumowania - nie spotkałem się jeszcze z takim komiksem i cieszę się, że mam go w swojej kolekcji. Może nie dostałem rozszerzonej wersji serialu, ale dostałem historię, którą będę długo jeszcze wspominać.
Zainspirowany świetnym serialem Netflixowym sięgnąłem po ten komiks, by bardziej zagłębić się w tą ciekawą historę. I nie spodziewałem się, że dostanę zupełnie inne doznania!
Jeżeli czytasz to i chcesz zrobić podobną rzecz co ja - od razu muszę Cię ostrzec. Fabuła serialu BARDZO luźno inspiruje się komiksem. Tutaj mamy brutalną i mroczną historię, która może nie przypaść Ci do gustu.
"Bodies" opowiada historię 4 detektywów:
W roku 1890, gdzie na ulicach Londynu grasuje Kuba Rozpruwacz a detektyw Edmond Hillinghead znajduje na Longharvest Lane tajemnicze zwłoki z nietypowym symbolem na ramieniu.
Uciekający od nalotu bombowców na Londyn w 1940 roku detektyw Charles Whiteman odkrywa dziwne zwłoki na Longharvest Lane z charakterystycznym symbolem na ramieniu.
Podczas agresywnej rasistowskiej demonstracji na uliach Londynu w roku 2014 detektyw Shahara Hasan znajduje martwego mężczyzne na Longharvest Lane.
W świecie pogrążonym zniszczeniu po nieznanym ataku bronią pulsacyjną ludzkość nic nie pamięta, jak i nie może niczego zapamiętać. Młoda kobieta znana jako Maplewood odkrywa zwłoki mężczyzny z dziwnym symbolem na ramieniu. Ze zniszczonej tabliczki drogowej widać jeszcze napisz "Longharvest Lane".
Chociaż ten opis przypomina bardzo to co znamy z serialu to na tym kończą się podobieństwa. Każdy z tych bohaterów ma różne cele i często nie są one związane ze znalezionymi zwłokami. Było to dla mnie zaskakujące, bo to co znaleźli na Longharvest Lane jest tylko katalizatorem do tego, z czym będą muszą się zmierzyć. I te historie są dla mnie największym plusem - są zaskakująco dojrzałe i zostawiają człowieka z pewnymi refleksjami.
Komiks do samego końca jest bardzo enigmatyczny - dopiero na ostatnich 15 stronach zaczęło się coś wyjaśniać. Za to daje mały minus, można byłoby dać więcej czasu na dokładniejsze wyjaśnienie wszystkich wątków.
Oprawa graficzna mnie uroczyła - każda historia jest opowiedziana innych stylem graficznych, dzięki temu nie gubiłem się, którą historię czytam i fantastycznie budowały one atmosferę danego okresu
Słowem podsumowania - nie spotkałem się jeszcze z takim komiksem i cieszę się, że mam go w swojej kolekcji. Może nie dostałem rozszerzonej wersji serialu, ale dostałem historię, którą będę długo jeszcze wspominać.
May 23, 2015
I received this book free for review from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Despite the privilege of receiving a free book, I’m absolutely candid about it below because I believe authors and readers will benefit most from honest reviews rather than vacuous 5-star reviews.
This graphic novel is a multi-threaded time travel murder mystery of sorts. It has many mythological aspects and delves into the ideas of secret societies, ancient texts and even manages to rope in bog bodies. The narrative is exceptionally complex and at times, honestly, is beyond total comprehension. I was able to unravel the overarching concept of the book but many of the details simply escaped me completely.
To the positive, the book does touch on some interesting concepts and its use of language is a joy. I found myself heading to the dictionary quite a few times and there are dozens of wonderful period English colloquialisms. The artwork is solid, sometimes shocking and exceptionally adult. This is not a novel for the kiddos of any age. There is much sexual congress, drinking of blood (straight from the proverbial ‘tap’) and outright murder.
To the negative, as I said, I just couldn’t quite tease out all the meaning in the various storylines. I know generally what happened and the storyline is reasonably satisfying but there are so many loose ends in my head that I think it would take a couple more readings to properly sort out. The text isn’t terribly dense it’s just that there are so many threads and there is little visual difference between some characters to properly tell them apart. Adding to that the rapid switches between timelines make it difficult to know not only who is acting but also when they are in time and where they are. It is certainly a bit of a puzzle.
In summary, for intense fans of the genre, this is probably a winner but for me as a more casual fan this blew my head apart. It’s graphic, innovative and complex but maybe a bit too complex for my addled mind.
PS: I hope my review was helpful. If it was not, then please let me know what I left out that you’d want to know. I always aim to improve.
This graphic novel is a multi-threaded time travel murder mystery of sorts. It has many mythological aspects and delves into the ideas of secret societies, ancient texts and even manages to rope in bog bodies. The narrative is exceptionally complex and at times, honestly, is beyond total comprehension. I was able to unravel the overarching concept of the book but many of the details simply escaped me completely.
To the positive, the book does touch on some interesting concepts and its use of language is a joy. I found myself heading to the dictionary quite a few times and there are dozens of wonderful period English colloquialisms. The artwork is solid, sometimes shocking and exceptionally adult. This is not a novel for the kiddos of any age. There is much sexual congress, drinking of blood (straight from the proverbial ‘tap’) and outright murder.
To the negative, as I said, I just couldn’t quite tease out all the meaning in the various storylines. I know generally what happened and the storyline is reasonably satisfying but there are so many loose ends in my head that I think it would take a couple more readings to properly sort out. The text isn’t terribly dense it’s just that there are so many threads and there is little visual difference between some characters to properly tell them apart. Adding to that the rapid switches between timelines make it difficult to know not only who is acting but also when they are in time and where they are. It is certainly a bit of a puzzle.
In summary, for intense fans of the genre, this is probably a winner but for me as a more casual fan this blew my head apart. It’s graphic, innovative and complex but maybe a bit too complex for my addled mind.
PS: I hope my review was helpful. If it was not, then please let me know what I left out that you’d want to know. I always aim to improve.
March 10, 2024
Okay, confused? There's self-contained narrative for each main character but also an overriding arc for the entirety. We're dealing with 4 different timelines; 1890, 1940, 2014 & 2050. Everything centers around the same body found mutilated on Longharvest Lane in London. And in each timeline there is some conflict or devastation associated with this street. It's a shady gay (love the rep) hangout near Jack the Ripper's stomping grounds in the Victorian era; a WWII Blitz target; angrily contested space in a race war; and ground zero of some tech/emp apocalypse in the future. Each detective in their respective timelines work to unravel this murder case only to find said body alive & walking around spouting "you are loved" so have some of my blood. The religiousness is glaringly transparent & the breadth of the story is a gorey, morbid love letter to Britain highlighting it's reluctant inclusion of all and ability to hash it out then carry on. Netflix even based a same titled show off of this series. I will probably watch it just to see how they tweak the story because there's no way they stuck the original!
August 22, 2015
IGNORE ANY REVIEW FROM SOMEONE WHO DID NOT FINISH THIS BOOK! Bodies is a wonderful graphic novel, deep with imagery and symbolism. At the beginning, it seems confusing, and it is. The further one gets, the more the story unfolds, up to the last page.
This is not a superhero story. This is not about the battle between good and evil. This is a mystical murder mystery. And,again, it keeps you asking questions until the last page.
This is not a superhero story. This is not about the battle between good and evil. This is a mystical murder mystery. And,again, it keeps you asking questions until the last page.
August 7, 2024
Nossa, foi uma canseira terminar de ler essa HQ, eu demorei muito, fora o sono que dava toda hora que ia para as histórias entediantes da moça do futuro.
Na trama, temos 4 personagens principais, cada um em um período: 1890, período da 2ª guerra, 2014 e um no futuro (acho que 2050). Todos esses personagens estão interligados por conta de um morto, porém, a história vai e volta com a trama de cada um desses personagens, e apenas uma é realmente boa, que é da policial muçulmana.
Na trama, temos 4 personagens principais, cada um em um período: 1890, período da 2ª guerra, 2014 e um no futuro (acho que 2050). Todos esses personagens estão interligados por conta de um morto, porém, a história vai e volta com a trama de cada um desses personagens, e apenas uma é realmente boa, que é da policial muçulmana.
July 29, 2017
This is one of those stories where the mystery was much more interesting than the answers.
January 11, 2024
Well.
I certainly hated that.
I certainly hated that.
December 17, 2024
Так вийшло, що перед знайомством з коміксом «Тіла», спершу переглядав однойменну екранізацію, серіал Марко Кройцпайнтнера та Хаолу Вана. І хоча він був цікавим, відразу виникло бажання, що хочу глибше зануритись у першоджерело — комікс Сая Спенсера. Сценарій і стиль екранізацій зазвичай дещо змінюють атмосферу оригіналу, і це підштовхнуло мене до пошуку оригінального коміксу, який, як виявилось, набагато багатший і має свої відмінні особливості.
Сюжет «Тіл» розгортається навколо чотирьох детективів, кожен з яких працює в різний історичний період. І всі вони стикаються з однаковою загадкою: знайдене тіло у провулку Лонгарвест. Це тіло не має жодних очевидних ознак ідентичності, однак на ньому присутній незвичайний символ, який повторюється в кожному з випадків. Детективи різних часів, — від Лондона 1890 року, через 1940-й, 2014-й і до майбутнього 2050 року, — намагаються розгадати, що ж об'єднує ці злочини та хто стоїть за ними. Спенсер майстерно поєднує історії про пошук правди з роздумами над ідентичністю і прийняттям різних культур, що є важливими темами для британського суспільства.
Особливість коміксу полягає в тому, що сюжет поділений на чотири лінії, кожна з яких має свій стиль і атмосферу завдяки різним художникам. Це не тільки дозволяє виразно передати дух кожної епохи, а й робить саму історію більш багатогранною. У 1890 році малює Дін Ормстон, створюючи похмурий, готичний настрій для Лондона тої епохи. Філ Вінслейд в 1940-их показує напружену атмосферу воєнного Лондона, а Меґан Гетрік у 2014 році передає сучасні соціальні проблеми через контекст расизму та політичних конфліктів. Найбільш сюрреалістичний малюнок, що відображає майбутнє, створено Тулою Лотей, чий стиль ілюструє постапокаліптичну реальність. Всі ці вони чудово доповнюють один одного і підсилюють ефект, створюючи цілісну атмосферу історії.
Що мене вразило, так це те, як Сай Спенсер зумів органічно вплести ці чотири окремі історії в одну. Кожен детектив має свій унікальний характер і мотивацію, а самі історії наповнені емоціями та соціальними проблемами. Водночас важко було не помітити, що деякі сюжетні лінії розвиваються досить повільно і не завжди дають чіткі відповіді до самого кінця. Мені, наприклад, було важко сприймати всі нюанси історії з майбутнього, адже її сюжет і персонажі виглядають значно більш абстрактно, ніж решта. Хоча у фіналі цього підсюжету стало все зрозуміло.
Важливою частиною «Тіл» є також тематичний аспект. Комікс не просто детектив, він порушує питання культурної ідентичності, належності до певної нації і боротьби з дискримінацією. Це яскраво видно через персонажів: гомосексуального детектива з 1890 року, єврейського детектива з 1940-го, мусульманську детективку в 2014-му і амнезійну героїню з майбутнього. Всі ці персонажі виступають як метафора сучасної Великої Британії, де, попри расові та культурні розбіжності, всі вони складають єдине ціле.
Але комікс не без мінусів. По-перше, фінал справді виявився дещо заплутаним, і кілька сюжетних ліній за відчуттями не отримали достатнього роз'яснення. По-друге, іноді важко зрозуміти мотивацію героїв, особливо це стосується персонажа Мейплвуд з майбутнього, чия історія виглядає, на мою думку, трохи надмірно абстрактною. Чомусь найбільше питань в мене саме до історії про майбутнє.
Хоча комікс і серіал мають спільні елементи, але також мають значні відмінності. Мені особисто сподобався більше комікс, завдяки його різноманіттю художніх стилів. Але, звісно, обидва твори заслуговують вашої уваги.
Сюжет «Тіл» розгортається навколо чотирьох детективів, кожен з яких працює в різний історичний період. І всі вони стикаються з однаковою загадкою: знайдене тіло у провулку Лонгарвест. Це тіло не має жодних очевидних ознак ідентичності, однак на ньому присутній незвичайний символ, який повторюється в кожному з випадків. Детективи різних часів, — від Лондона 1890 року, через 1940-й, 2014-й і до майбутнього 2050 року, — намагаються розгадати, що ж об'єднує ці злочини та хто стоїть за ними. Спенсер майстерно поєднує історії про пошук правди з роздумами над ідентичністю і прийняттям різних культур, що є важливими темами для британського суспільства.
Особливість коміксу полягає в тому, що сюжет поділений на чотири лінії, кожна з яких має свій стиль і атмосферу завдяки різним художникам. Це не тільки дозволяє виразно передати дух кожної епохи, а й робить саму історію більш багатогранною. У 1890 році малює Дін Ормстон, створюючи похмурий, готичний настрій для Лондона тої епохи. Філ Вінслейд в 1940-их показує напружену атмосферу воєнного Лондона, а Меґан Гетрік у 2014 році передає сучасні соціальні проблеми через контекст расизму та політичних конфліктів. Найбільш сюрреалістичний малюнок, що відображає майбутнє, створено Тулою Лотей, чий стиль ілюструє постапокаліптичну реальність. Всі ці вони чудово доповнюють один одного і підсилюють ефект, створюючи цілісну атмосферу історії.
Що мене вразило, так це те, як Сай Спенсер зумів органічно вплести ці чотири окремі історії в одну. Кожен детектив має свій унікальний характер і мотивацію, а самі історії наповнені емоціями та соціальними проблемами. Водночас важко було не помітити, що деякі сюжетні лінії розвиваються досить повільно і не завжди дають чіткі відповіді до самого кінця. Мені, наприклад, було важко сприймати всі нюанси історії з майбутнього, адже її сюжет і персонажі виглядають значно більш абстрактно, ніж решта. Хоча у фіналі цього підсюжету стало все зрозуміло.
Важливою частиною «Тіл» є також тематичний аспект. Комікс не просто детектив, він порушує питання культурної ідентичності, належності до певної нації і боротьби з дискримінацією. Це яскраво видно через персонажів: гомосексуального детектива з 1890 року, єврейського детектива з 1940-го, мусульманську детективку в 2014-му і амнезійну героїню з майбутнього. Всі ці персонажі виступають як метафора сучасної Великої Британії, де, попри расові та культурні розбіжності, всі вони складають єдине ціле.
Але комікс не без мінусів. По-перше, фінал справді виявився дещо заплутаним, і кілька сюжетних ліній за відчуттями не отримали достатнього роз'яснення. По-друге, іноді важко зрозуміти мотивацію героїв, особливо це стосується персонажа Мейплвуд з майбутнього, чия історія виглядає, на мою думку, трохи надмірно абстрактною. Чомусь найбільше питань в мене саме до історії про майбутнє.
Хоча комікс і серіал мають спільні елементи, але також мають значні відмінності. Мені особисто сподобався більше комікс, завдяки його різноманіттю художніх стилів. Але, звісно, обидва твори заслуговують вашої уваги.
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