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Normandy Gold #1-5
Normandy Gold Vol. 1
When her younger sister becomes the center of a brutal murder case, tough-as-nails Sheriff Normandy Gold is force to dive headfirst into the seedy world of 1970s prostitution in Washington DC.
Collects issues 1-5 in the series.
Collects issues 1-5 in the series.
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 14, 2018
26 people are currently reading
1082 people want to read
About the author
Megan Abbott
62 books6,361 followersMegan Abbott is the Edgar®-winning author of the novels Die a Little, Queenpin, The Song Is You, Bury Me Deep, The End of Everything, Dare Me, The Fever, You Will Know Me and Give Me Your Hand.
Abbott is co-showrunner, writer and executive producer of DARE ME, the TV show adapated from her novel. She was also a staff writer on HBO's THE DEUCE. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Believer and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Born in the Detroit area, she graduated from the University of Michigan and received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University. She has taught at NYU, SUNY and the New School University and has served as the John Grisham Writer in Residence at The University of Mississippi.
She is also the author of a nonfiction book, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir, and the editor of A Hell of a Woman, an anthology of female crime fiction. She is currently developing two of her novels, Dare Me and The Fever, for television.
Abbott is co-showrunner, writer and executive producer of DARE ME, the TV show adapated from her novel. She was also a staff writer on HBO's THE DEUCE. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Believer and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
Born in the Detroit area, she graduated from the University of Michigan and received her Ph.D. in English and American literature from New York University. She has taught at NYU, SUNY and the New School University and has served as the John Grisham Writer in Residence at The University of Mississippi.
She is also the author of a nonfiction book, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir, and the editor of A Hell of a Woman, an anthology of female crime fiction. She is currently developing two of her novels, Dare Me and The Fever, for television.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
December 23, 2022
My favorite approach to criticism came from Gene Siskel, who sometimes asked rhetorically when on the fence about a movie, "Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?" Here we have Normandy Gold, a graphic novel written by Megan Abbott & Alison Gaylin, with artwork by Steve Scott & Rodney Ramos, published in 2018 by Titan Comics and Hard Case Crime. This orgy of gratuitous sex and violence has its heart in the right place, but would drinks at a dive bar with Abbott & Gaylin to discuss their favorite movies of the '70s have been more interesting? Way more.
The plot--which could be any Pam Grier/ AIP picture--concerns Normandy Gold, '70s-era sheriff of Dealy, Oregon, who travels to Washington D.C. to search for her missing half-sister Delilah, a call girl. Normandy regrets abandoning Lila at age 14 to run away from their junkie mother and in the best moment in the story, recounts this. Taken in by the sheriff of Dealy, Normandy learned survival skills and can track and hunt game with a knife, even bears. This is bad news for Lila's killers, which might include her manager Felicia Vane, or the prostitute Shanna, or Senator Selvyn Grange or skeevy adult nightclub owner Johnny Deeper.
My favorite aspect of this book next to the wonderfully R-rated artwork is a brief interview with Abbott & Gaylin at the back where they discuss their influences. A fan of '70s conspiracy thriller films, I did enjoy being taken on this ride. Normandy doesn't speak much except with her knife and the decision to have her go undercover as a D.C. call girl both strains credulity and makes her unlikable. Normandy's spare human qualities make her difficult to relate to and this story, in addition to being derivative, is thrifty derivative. Lunch with the authors would be more interesting and lasted longer. Titan Comics and Hard Case Crime do put together an exciting and titillating book.
Cover by Claudia Iannicello
Cover by Kody Chamberlain
Cover by Elias Chatzoudis
The plot--which could be any Pam Grier/ AIP picture--concerns Normandy Gold, '70s-era sheriff of Dealy, Oregon, who travels to Washington D.C. to search for her missing half-sister Delilah, a call girl. Normandy regrets abandoning Lila at age 14 to run away from their junkie mother and in the best moment in the story, recounts this. Taken in by the sheriff of Dealy, Normandy learned survival skills and can track and hunt game with a knife, even bears. This is bad news for Lila's killers, which might include her manager Felicia Vane, or the prostitute Shanna, or Senator Selvyn Grange or skeevy adult nightclub owner Johnny Deeper.
My favorite aspect of this book next to the wonderfully R-rated artwork is a brief interview with Abbott & Gaylin at the back where they discuss their influences. A fan of '70s conspiracy thriller films, I did enjoy being taken on this ride. Normandy doesn't speak much except with her knife and the decision to have her go undercover as a D.C. call girl both strains credulity and makes her unlikable. Normandy's spare human qualities make her difficult to relate to and this story, in addition to being derivative, is thrifty derivative. Lunch with the authors would be more interesting and lasted longer. Titan Comics and Hard Case Crime do put together an exciting and titillating book.
Cover by Claudia Iannicello
Cover by Kody Chamberlain
Cover by Elias Chatzoudis
December 12, 2024
Hmmm.
Some of the plot didn't work for me, though I loved the 70's high-end escort and politics vibe.
The main complaint I have is one that I'm seeing in other reviews. The whole thing about Normandy just jumping headfirst into prostitution? It was weird.
So the gist is that this female sheriff from a small town gets a call from her little sister, and while on that call, her sister is murdered.
Ok.
Her backstory is that her father was killed at the Battle of Normandy, her mom got hooked on crack and became a prostitute, and she ran away from home when she was a teenager. In doing so, she left her little sister behind, never looking back. She was somehow taken in by a godly and wise old sheriff who taught her a bunch of stuff, ranging from hunting to (apparently) sheriffing. Because when he was killed in the line of duty, she just sort of took over as sheriff.
Anyway.
Her sister calls her with the great news that she's met this amazing married man who is going to leave his wife for her and she understands why Normandy never called her and all is forgiven and it was just a weird conversation.
Then some guy is in the background and ohmygodhejustkilledher!
Normandy, who hasn't given a tinker's damn about her little sister up till this moment, jumps in her car, goes to the big city, and reports the crime to the police. But they don't care. Except for one guy and they kind of team up a teeny bit.
So anyway. And here's where it gets weird - she finds out what escort service her sister was working for and just STARTS FUCKING GUYS FOR MONEY to find out what happened.
This all happens early on, btw.
I thought that was...idk.
As far as shock value goes, it worked. And if the goal was just to mirror the sexploitation films, then...yeah.
But as a hardboiled crime comic, I kind of wanted more realism. And I don't think it would be realistic for a woman who was a sheriff in the 70s to blow that off to go into the escort service, even if it was the most expedient way to find her sister's killer. <--supposedly?
Again, maybe if she and lil sis had been BFFs all these years, but it didn't make much sense in the context of them not knowing each other at all.
And that she was running around and randomly pulling some kind of a Bowie knife on people.
Is that kind of out of place? Yes.
Is that kind of cool? Also, yes.
I'm torn. But overall, I'm still digging the Hard Case imprint and this was fun.
Recommended.
Some of the plot didn't work for me, though I loved the 70's high-end escort and politics vibe.
The main complaint I have is one that I'm seeing in other reviews. The whole thing about Normandy just jumping headfirst into prostitution? It was weird.
So the gist is that this female sheriff from a small town gets a call from her little sister, and while on that call, her sister is murdered.
Ok.
Her backstory is that her father was killed at the Battle of Normandy, her mom got hooked on crack and became a prostitute, and she ran away from home when she was a teenager. In doing so, she left her little sister behind, never looking back. She was somehow taken in by a godly and wise old sheriff who taught her a bunch of stuff, ranging from hunting to (apparently) sheriffing. Because when he was killed in the line of duty, she just sort of took over as sheriff.
Anyway.
Her sister calls her with the great news that she's met this amazing married man who is going to leave his wife for her and she understands why Normandy never called her and all is forgiven and it was just a weird conversation.
Then some guy is in the background and ohmygodhejustkilledher!
Normandy, who hasn't given a tinker's damn about her little sister up till this moment, jumps in her car, goes to the big city, and reports the crime to the police. But they don't care. Except for one guy and they kind of team up a teeny bit.
So anyway. And here's where it gets weird - she finds out what escort service her sister was working for and just STARTS FUCKING GUYS FOR MONEY to find out what happened.
This all happens early on, btw.
I thought that was...idk.
As far as shock value goes, it worked. And if the goal was just to mirror the sexploitation films, then...yeah.
But as a hardboiled crime comic, I kind of wanted more realism. And I don't think it would be realistic for a woman who was a sheriff in the 70s to blow that off to go into the escort service, even if it was the most expedient way to find her sister's killer. <--supposedly?
Again, maybe if she and lil sis had been BFFs all these years, but it didn't make much sense in the context of them not knowing each other at all.
And that she was running around and randomly pulling some kind of a Bowie knife on people.
Is that kind of out of place? Yes.
Is that kind of cool? Also, yes.
I'm torn. But overall, I'm still digging the Hard Case imprint and this was fun.
Recommended.
February 11, 2022
A 70's political thriller mixed with a sexpoitation film and a revenge plot. A female sheriff heads to Washington, DC when her sister who is a high-end prostitute disappears. To uncover what happens, she becomes a prostitute as well. VERY adult content. While a solid noir, I found it to be unbelievable that a sheriff would instantly start turning tricks to find her sister.
April 21, 2018
Normandy Gold is a small town sheriff who is thrust into the violent underbelly of crime in 1970's Washington DC following an ill-fated telephone call from her younger sister.
The call, strange in itself, given Normandy and Lila hadn't spoken in while, gets a whole lot stranger when Normandy overhears her sister become involved in a violent confrontation with a man. The only clue echoing on the ghostly end of the line; the name Sel.
The dead silence births loud fears as Normandy envelopes herself in a shroud of criminal grime, grit and gore on a violent path to destruction at once reckless and righteous.
The graphic novel by authors Megan Abbott and Alison Gaylin is pure, unadulterated noir; there's no greater good or subplot device aimed at exposing political corruption or making the world a better place; Normandy walks among the sullen and grey, and that's where this story rightfully resides.
My rating: 5/5 stars. Ask Normandy for sunshine and rainbows, and get a serrated knife to the solar plexus.
The call, strange in itself, given Normandy and Lila hadn't spoken in while, gets a whole lot stranger when Normandy overhears her sister become involved in a violent confrontation with a man. The only clue echoing on the ghostly end of the line; the name Sel.
The dead silence births loud fears as Normandy envelopes herself in a shroud of criminal grime, grit and gore on a violent path to destruction at once reckless and righteous.
The graphic novel by authors Megan Abbott and Alison Gaylin is pure, unadulterated noir; there's no greater good or subplot device aimed at exposing political corruption or making the world a better place; Normandy walks among the sullen and grey, and that's where this story rightfully resides.
My rating: 5/5 stars. Ask Normandy for sunshine and rainbows, and get a serrated knife to the solar plexus.
September 7, 2025
It’s been six years since I read Megan Abbott’s “The Song is You”. I have not read anything else by her since then. Shame on me. I had every intention of reading other books by her, as I enjoyed the gritty, violent noir crime thriller set in 1950s Los Angeles. I just got caught up in other things, other writers.
My penance begins now.
My latest fascination with graphic novels inevitably led me to “Normandy Gold”, written by Abbot, along with Alison Gaylin, and illustrated by Steve Scott and Rodney Ramos, published by Titan Comics. It is part of the Hard Case Crime series. They are, apparently, branching out into graphic novels.
Like the pulpy noir thrillers by an eclectic assortment of writers (Donald Westlake, Lawrence Block, James Cain, Christa Faust, and Stephen King, just to name a few) that Hard Case publishes in mass market paperbacks, “Normandy Gold” visually harkens back to an era of bellbottoms, disco, the height of porn, and sleazy politicians.
The 1970s were a crazy time, not just in terms of fashion and rampant drug use but also in terms of social and political upheaval. It was the era of the Pentagon Papers and Richard Nixon’s Watergate, when Americans who grew up believing that their government was looking out for them began to realize that their government was actually shitting on them. It was, arguably, the beginning of the downward spiral that has brought us Trump, a resurgence of white nationalism, an opioid epidemic, and global climate change.
Abbot/Gaylin perfectly channels the craziness of the ‘70s in their story of Normandy Gold, a small-town female sheriff who comes to the big city of Washington, D.C. to find out what happened to her younger sister. She infiltrates a high-class prostitution ring that caters to the upper-echelon and elite members of D.C. society and quickly uncovers a conspiracy that leads straight to the White House. Before she knows it, she’s in way over her head, but if there’s one thing Normandy isn’t, it’s a push-over.
Artists Scott and Ramos brilliantly recreate the feel of classic ‘70s films, referencing everything from “Dirty Harry”, “Taxi Driver”, “Three Days of the Condor”, and “The Parallax View”, not to mention the many classic porn films from the era. Speaking of which: some readers may be shocked by the gratuitous nudity in the graphic novel. I personally didn’t have a problem with it at all.
Like “The Song is You”, “Normandy Gold” is a riveting page-turner with lots of unexpected twists. It just happens to have the added bonus of pretty pictures to go along with it.
My penance begins now.
My latest fascination with graphic novels inevitably led me to “Normandy Gold”, written by Abbot, along with Alison Gaylin, and illustrated by Steve Scott and Rodney Ramos, published by Titan Comics. It is part of the Hard Case Crime series. They are, apparently, branching out into graphic novels.
Like the pulpy noir thrillers by an eclectic assortment of writers (Donald Westlake, Lawrence Block, James Cain, Christa Faust, and Stephen King, just to name a few) that Hard Case publishes in mass market paperbacks, “Normandy Gold” visually harkens back to an era of bellbottoms, disco, the height of porn, and sleazy politicians.
The 1970s were a crazy time, not just in terms of fashion and rampant drug use but also in terms of social and political upheaval. It was the era of the Pentagon Papers and Richard Nixon’s Watergate, when Americans who grew up believing that their government was looking out for them began to realize that their government was actually shitting on them. It was, arguably, the beginning of the downward spiral that has brought us Trump, a resurgence of white nationalism, an opioid epidemic, and global climate change.
Abbot/Gaylin perfectly channels the craziness of the ‘70s in their story of Normandy Gold, a small-town female sheriff who comes to the big city of Washington, D.C. to find out what happened to her younger sister. She infiltrates a high-class prostitution ring that caters to the upper-echelon and elite members of D.C. society and quickly uncovers a conspiracy that leads straight to the White House. Before she knows it, she’s in way over her head, but if there’s one thing Normandy isn’t, it’s a push-over.
Artists Scott and Ramos brilliantly recreate the feel of classic ‘70s films, referencing everything from “Dirty Harry”, “Taxi Driver”, “Three Days of the Condor”, and “The Parallax View”, not to mention the many classic porn films from the era. Speaking of which: some readers may be shocked by the gratuitous nudity in the graphic novel. I personally didn’t have a problem with it at all.
Like “The Song is You”, “Normandy Gold” is a riveting page-turner with lots of unexpected twists. It just happens to have the added bonus of pretty pictures to go along with it.
April 13, 2018
Very good for what it was. Almost a revenge noir comic in the vein of 70s cinema. Raunchy and filled with sex and violence. Just like the movies. And the storyline was interesting too. I enjoyed it. I’m a fan of Megan Abbott and have found her novels with teenage protagonist really good, perhaps I need to delve into more of her hardcore crime.
July 13, 2018
Megan Abbott and Alison Gaylin team-up for the Hard Case Crime series' first graphic novel, Normandy Gold.
A love-letter to 70's thrillers, this six-issue miniseries reads just like you'd expect -- hard hitting, hard drinking, and completely over the top. In short, it's a blast...if you're in the right frame of mind for it.
When her stripper sister goes missing, Normandy Gold heads to D.C. to find out what really happened. What she finds is a vortex of lies, deceit, and underhand dealings that extend the highest levels of power.
A fun, entertaining ride that reminds me of just what it is about the Hard Case Crime series I enjoy so much.
A love-letter to 70's thrillers, this six-issue miniseries reads just like you'd expect -- hard hitting, hard drinking, and completely over the top. In short, it's a blast...if you're in the right frame of mind for it.
When her stripper sister goes missing, Normandy Gold heads to D.C. to find out what really happened. What she finds is a vortex of lies, deceit, and underhand dealings that extend the highest levels of power.
A fun, entertaining ride that reminds me of just what it is about the Hard Case Crime series I enjoy so much.
October 27, 2018
Well, they nailed the aesthetic they were going for. This book feels like a novelization of a 70's political thriller merged with a sexploitation film. Normandy is our lead character, a terse woman out for revenge on the people who killed her sister, and stopping at nothing to find them. She uses her body without hesitation (and this book is definitely NSFW), and when the time comes for violence, she doesn't shy away from that either. It's brutal throughout, both the sex and the violence, and it made me seriously uncomfortable to read. Even having previously read Minky Woodcock, of the same publishers, I was surprised by the graphic nudity throughout the volume. It makes sense in the realm of the story and the art style captures the tone and style of the 70's era movies it aims for perfectly, but readers should still be aware of it going in.
I appreciated that Normandy isn't infallible - she makes mistakes, comes to the wrong conclusions, and does things that she can't take back. But she powers through, moving forward the entire time, until she reaches her goal. I wouldn't quite say she's an inspiring character (her minimal dialogue makes her a bit difficult to empathize with), but she does hold together a strong story here.
I appreciated that Normandy isn't infallible - she makes mistakes, comes to the wrong conclusions, and does things that she can't take back. But she powers through, moving forward the entire time, until she reaches her goal. I wouldn't quite say she's an inspiring character (her minimal dialogue makes her a bit difficult to empathize with), but she does hold together a strong story here.
March 20, 2019
The creators claim to be inspired by 1970s cinema like Dirty Harry and Taxi Driver, but this work seems to skew more strongly to 70's exploitation fare. The plot is simple enough: to avenge her sister, a small town sheriff becomes a high-end Washington, D.C., prostitute (please note: she doesn't go undercover; she just becomes a prostitute, NBD) and randomly assaults and kills people consequence free until she feels she comes close enough to the right one to call it a day.
If this was supposed to be over the top satire, I feel like I missed the wink. It seems to play out earnestly if nonsensically.
I was a little thrown when the likenesses of Robert Redford, Sam Elliott and Robert McNamara were used for some of the side characters, but the creators actually have a two-page spread laying out all the celebrities they used, including a whole bunch I missed. It made me remember the time singer Amy Grant sued Marvel for drawing her on one of their covers: https://www.cbr.com/when-doctor-stran.... I hope the celebrities used here have more of a sense of humor.
If this was supposed to be over the top satire, I feel like I missed the wink. It seems to play out earnestly if nonsensically.
I was a little thrown when the likenesses of Robert Redford, Sam Elliott and Robert McNamara were used for some of the side characters, but the creators actually have a two-page spread laying out all the celebrities they used, including a whole bunch I missed. It made me remember the time singer Amy Grant sued Marvel for drawing her on one of their covers: https://www.cbr.com/when-doctor-stran.... I hope the celebrities used here have more of a sense of humor.
October 3, 2018
A surprisingly twisty and enjoyable riff on 70s noir. Sheriff Normandy Gold takes on prostitution in DC after her younger sister is brutally murdered by a corrupt politician. You keep thinking Normandy's cracked the case, but there's always a bigger fish to fry. The potboiler plotting is absurd to the extreme, but it's not terribly hard to lean in to. The high level of internal dialogue feels true to noir, but drags on the pacing. My largest complaint is that the various prostitutes Normandy encounters tend to run together, art-wise, to the point that I struggled to pinpoint key characters.
July 9, 2018
Kind of disappointing. The story was a cliche-filled mix of any number of 1970s political potboilers, coupled with Watergate-conspiracy paranoia and a healthy helping of sex and gore. I didn't buy it, from the first page to the last. This is the second Hard Case Crime graphic novel I've read that falls far short of worthwhile.
December 2, 2025
Hard Case Crime comes through with a winner from Megan Abbot. Normandy Gold is the sheriff who seeks out the killer of her sister, the high end lady of the eveningup in Washington. There is political intrigue and corruption, murder and of course the page brings out the sexy undertones (and overtones!)
A good edition of all that is expected from noir in a graphic novel. Recommended!
A good edition of all that is expected from noir in a graphic novel. Recommended!
May 20, 2020
Nearly but not quite, afaic. I feel mean because the art and dialogue is good and I'd read more by anyone involved. It's pretty crass with the sex and violence but that's to be expected and even wanted. But, I dunno, I didn't care much about it and it wasn't much fun either. Nearly but not quite.
December 5, 2021
I got all the other references, but definitely reminded me of Klute a lot.
October 13, 2023
Normandy Gold Vol. 1 is a noir / pulp graphic novel in the Hard Case Crime series. This one was written by Megan Abbott. Normandy Gold, named after the D-Day landings (at Normandy of course). She is a cop out west and her favorite weapon seems to be a Bowie knife. She receives a call from her younger sister, now a high cost call girl in Washington, DC. During the call, she is killed by her client.
Normandy heads to DC to try and either find Lila (alive or dead) or find her killer. She investigates very much on her own, but also has some involvement with police detective Sturges. The investigation gets her into the high class prostitution business and also high rollers in the political scene. A murder is covered up, by someone....
Like most of the hard case graphic novels, there is lots of violence and sex and nudity.. Woo hoo! Normandy is a bit of bull in a china shop but she knows how to investigate and to get results. Nothing deep, just action, political intrigue and criming. Entertaining at the very least. (3.0 stars)
Normandy heads to DC to try and either find Lila (alive or dead) or find her killer. She investigates very much on her own, but also has some involvement with police detective Sturges. The investigation gets her into the high class prostitution business and also high rollers in the political scene. A murder is covered up, by someone....
Like most of the hard case graphic novels, there is lots of violence and sex and nudity.. Woo hoo! Normandy is a bit of bull in a china shop but she knows how to investigate and to get results. Nothing deep, just action, political intrigue and criming. Entertaining at the very least. (3.0 stars)
May 11, 2019
Fantastic! Megan Abbott and Alison Gaylin are is my new go-to authors whose books I have to find. Normandy Gold is a big extended nod to all the seventies movies I loved-plus it features a strong female protagonist who is a real ass kicker. Fantastic art and a good story make this a great piece of entertainment.
December 17, 2019
Great art and dialogue make for an entertaining read in this gripping pastiche of 70s conspiracy thrillers. Normandy makes a kick ass heroine and whilst the plot isn't that original it did keep me gripped.
April 21, 2018
Reading this is like watching a great seventies crime film, each panel a cinematic shot. Add to this a sexy and brutal protagonist, Normandy Gold is a must-read.
October 4, 2018
70's fashion... not really a fan. The lingerie is hot, though, and also the gratuitous nudity. Yes, there is plenty of nudity in this comic. Also sexism. And the main character carries a huge Rambo knife that is definitely not regulation. What's not to like? The story is a spy thriller with a dubious and somewhat unsatisfying ending.
Normandy's sister Lila, short for Delilah, disappears after servicing a client. She worked at a high-class brothel run by Felicia Vane, a woman with many connections that make her untouchable. Normandy, a sheriff in a small town, heads to Washington, DC to find her sister and meets Paul Sturges, the detective who handled the case and was forced to leave it unsolved. Normandy takes matters into her own hans to get to Felicia, but she first has to prove herself by working at the woman's brothel.
Normandy's sister Lila, short for Delilah, disappears after servicing a client. She worked at a high-class brothel run by Felicia Vane, a woman with many connections that make her untouchable. Normandy, a sheriff in a small town, heads to Washington, DC to find her sister and meets Paul Sturges, the detective who handled the case and was forced to leave it unsolved. Normandy takes matters into her own hans to get to Felicia, but she first has to prove herself by working at the woman's brothel.
November 14, 2021
This graphic novel is a decent female-centric homage to 1970s conspiracy movies like "Three Days of the Condor" where there's a deep evil lurking within the government that sometimes kills good people. In this case, a prostitute is killed and her sister — a rural sheriff — comes to solve the murder and avenge her death. Lots of nudity and violence. The authors clearly had fun, with a good interview in the back and a breakdown of which actors from history they imagine playing different characters. The ending is straight out of 1970s exploitation movies.
As pulp fiction, it's solid — but one major part bugged me: The art. A guy did the artwork for the two female authors, and it's got a creepy male gaze that sometimes was OK because it's channeling pulp fiction crime book covers of the 1950s, but other times, it was less than OK. One example: The killing that launches the story involves a conventionally beautiful and scantily clad young prostitute. It's absolutely understandable and expected to see her naked early in the scene, but not during the killing itself. This sexualizes the violence, which was just gross, to me. I couldn't put my finger on the problem until the end when there are pages showing covers of the individual comics compiled here. They all featured women in states of undress, but the one illustrated by a woman depicted a fully seen person whereas the ones illustrated by men seem to force the reader to leer. In short, I think I would've liked this better if it'd also been illustrated by women.
As pulp fiction, it's solid — but one major part bugged me: The art. A guy did the artwork for the two female authors, and it's got a creepy male gaze that sometimes was OK because it's channeling pulp fiction crime book covers of the 1950s, but other times, it was less than OK. One example: The killing that launches the story involves a conventionally beautiful and scantily clad young prostitute. It's absolutely understandable and expected to see her naked early in the scene, but not during the killing itself. This sexualizes the violence, which was just gross, to me. I couldn't put my finger on the problem until the end when there are pages showing covers of the individual comics compiled here. They all featured women in states of undress, but the one illustrated by a woman depicted a fully seen person whereas the ones illustrated by men seem to force the reader to leer. In short, I think I would've liked this better if it'd also been illustrated by women.
August 1, 2019
I love 70s moves. I love conspiracies. I love Megan Abbott’s work. Mix it all together and you’re probably going to make something I’ll love. That’s definitely the case here.
I collect Hard Case Crime novels as a hobby. I decided not to do this when they expanded to graphic novels but I admire the talent they got to do them. Abbott on this one and Crista Faust, another favorite, on one that I will have to check out as well.
This was great. It’s purely meant to be a cinematic experience on page. A mystery novel/conspiracy thriller/exploitation movie. It’s a shame Normandy was colored as white because Pam Grier would kill in a role like this, literally.
There is an element of Frank Miller here as you get a strong Sin City vibe but the plot itself is more akin to a Donald Westlake Parker novel. The titular Normandy is out to seek revenge on those who killed her sister. She has a predictably rough backstory and thus it inspires her to do a lot of things she’s not proud of in order to seek the truth.
This book is not more than it purports to be. It’s full of graphic sex and violence. While it does feature a female as the heroine and do a decent job portraying all the pricks she has to deal with (in some cases literally), it’s not one you’d chalk up for women’s empowerment.
But it doesn’t have to be. It’s an ode to a different time of story and that’s good enough for this particular reader.
I collect Hard Case Crime novels as a hobby. I decided not to do this when they expanded to graphic novels but I admire the talent they got to do them. Abbott on this one and Crista Faust, another favorite, on one that I will have to check out as well.
This was great. It’s purely meant to be a cinematic experience on page. A mystery novel/conspiracy thriller/exploitation movie. It’s a shame Normandy was colored as white because Pam Grier would kill in a role like this, literally.
There is an element of Frank Miller here as you get a strong Sin City vibe but the plot itself is more akin to a Donald Westlake Parker novel. The titular Normandy is out to seek revenge on those who killed her sister. She has a predictably rough backstory and thus it inspires her to do a lot of things she’s not proud of in order to seek the truth.
This book is not more than it purports to be. It’s full of graphic sex and violence. While it does feature a female as the heroine and do a decent job portraying all the pricks she has to deal with (in some cases literally), it’s not one you’d chalk up for women’s empowerment.
But it doesn’t have to be. It’s an ode to a different time of story and that’s good enough for this particular reader.
January 22, 2025
This has been on my TBR solely for my love of Megan Abbott, and while I get what the story was trying to do, it fell flat compared to her other works. I was kind of disappointed, especially since so many of her works feature complex, fleshed-out female protagonists and this was a fairly predictable take on sex work.
December 23, 2019
Fast, dark and oh so 70s
February 7, 2020
Read for Popsugar 2020 prompt Book with Gold, Silver, or Bronze in the title.
The clothes are -so- good!
The clothes are -so- good!
May 17, 2025
This could have easily been a fun b-rated 70's female action movie (Pam Grier). and was obviously inspired by the genre. This wasn't bad but that would have better.
April 20, 2018
I expected more out of a Megan Abbott book even if it
was a graphic novel. This one seems a bit un-tidy where
things move along but sometimes things are
"skipped" in my mind. Kind of a mish-mosh.
Not recommended.
was a graphic novel. This one seems a bit un-tidy where
things move along but sometimes things are
"skipped" in my mind. Kind of a mish-mosh.
Not recommended.
January 20, 2018
This graphic novel (or collection of five comic books) tells a hard boiled story set in the 1970s of a striking female sheriff who comes to Washington DC to investigate/avenge the murder of her estranged little sister who got caught up in a high class escort ring with ties that go the very top of the political system. The plot is interesting enough to sustain the work but increasingly absurd as the conspiracies go increasingly high up the chain. The illustrations are really good and bring back a world that may never have existed outside of the 1970s and 1980s movies it draws on ranging from Taxi Driver to The Conversation. And the characters are what they are—tough women, prostitutes with hearts of gold, corrupt depraved politicians, honest low-level cops, and the like. Worth a quick read (in my case was drawn by the author Megan Abbott, would recommend her novels).
December 22, 2018
I can tell that Megan Abbott and everyone else involved in this project had a great time developing and creating this book, essentially writing a 1970s era revenge film with a badass female lead. I really love Abbott's work, but even though she (and the team with the book) hit all their goals, something doesn't work for me. Maybe I am just getting tired of the necessary step to kick-start the revenge thriller: the ritual of spilling the blood of a female character. Whether the revenge taker is man or woman, a woman (or a woman and children) need to go to the grave. I've read and watched that story...and I'm ready for something new.
November 29, 2021
Definitely a graphic novel for adults. The story is hard and harsh. It has sex, drugs, and profanity. It is a hard-hitting mystery with a main character who is going to do whatever it takes to solve the murder of her sister. A conscious homage to the gritty movies of the 1970s. It kept my attention throughout.
April 13, 2018
It’s the marriage of Coogan’s Bluff, Parallax Effect, The Deuce and Foxy Brown that I never knew my life was missing! Prepare to be surprised by how great this is.
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