Blacking Out

by Chip Mosher, Peter Krause (Illustrator), Giulia Brusco (Colorist)

Bad people doing bad things.

A tale of fire and murder in southern California.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Crime, Mystery

58 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is that Keanu Reeves on the cover? No! But it looks like he, doesn't it? The main character, Conrad aka Connie, doesn't look like Reeves at all in the actual book. In fact, would this be made into a TV show or a movie, casting Reeves would be plain bad. Because Connie is a washed up ex-cop, who had a drinking problem, which is also why he is now an ex-cop. He's cleaned up his act, returned to his hometown, and now takes on private eye work.

Yes, this does all sound very Ed Brubaker, doesn't it? And it is a bit. It's a twisty little thriller, with a downbeat nasty ending. I'm not entirely sure what I think of the ending, but it did surprise me, so that's a plus.

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nasty little story in a big, beautiful book.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow.
what a reveal, what an ending.
fantastic. not a perfect story nor comic. but it was entertaining. it was well done. and ill think about it a lot.

the art works for the story. the ex fiance was only necessary for that polygraph scene.

a former cop investigates a murder for a defence attorney in California.

do yourself a favour and read this.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that John Wick was on the cover caught my attention but it wasn't John and the main character, Conrad, didn't look like John much, just your generic 70s era mustached hairy dude. Connie is a disgraced cop (alcoholic) trying to survive now as an investigator for a lawyer. His current case is the death of a young woman whose father is on trial for killing her. His boss is the defense lawyer and wants enough to cause doubt in the jury.

Her death was awful, being badly battered and set on fire which has touched off a huge California fire (less common back in that time period than they are today.) Connie sees this as his way back on the force if he can solve it but he doesn't come to that conclusion until he meets a woman in a bar and this is where it went off the rails for me.

She tells him (spoilers) the next morning, no they didn't have sex because he was so drunk he passed out and peed the bed. And then tells him to go shower up because she didn't bring him home for no reason. Then they have sex. I strained eye muscles rolling them so hard. No, that's just not how it works. I'm not sure I've ever known a woman who'd do that with a complete stranger (especially after the piss the bed incident) Much later we learn she's not as much a stranger as we're led to believe.

Now inspired by this woman, Connie dives in. His methods are straight up police brutality down to breaking fingers to get information. He's gross. The story is dark and the ending is worse. Yeah I'm not sure why I didn't bail after the sex incident. I should have.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

That sure does look like Keanu Reeves on the cover. He's nowhere to be found inside though and that's a good thing. This is a really dark book. It's about a washed up drunk former cop investigating the murder of a girl in a small Californian town. That ending. God! It certainly went down the darkest timeline. Works well as crime fiction.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story, with visuals and writing resembling to Brubaker and Phillips. Fast pace and interesting twist at the end. It would definitely benefit from few more pages, as everything happens quickly and it's over before you know it... 3.5*

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm...🤔...Jury is still out on this one

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miserable.

[Christopher Geraghty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt miserable after reading this. I did not like the ending one bit. I guess that is the reaction the author was aiming for?

[Mee Too]

Why is john wick on the cover😂😂

Automatic L 😂

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I did not see that ending! I'm sort of upset he didn't send in his confession, cuz he should go to jail imo

[Matt Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, nasty ripper of a noir. It's a short read but has genuine impact. Krause's art is perfect for it as well.

[Julls · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5