Where the Body Was, the quirky Brubaker's murder mystery

I have been a fan of Ed Brubaker's comics ever since The Fade Out was released in 2016. This incredible film noir mystery won the Eisner Award and tells the story of a rising Hollywood starlet who is murdered and the subsequent investigation. As it was the first Brubaker comic I had read, and I knew nothing about him, I was blown away. Since then I've always been excited to discover a new comic by him. A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of reading Where the Body Was (2023), a comic that embodies everything I love about Brubaker's writing and features an intriguing twist in how he deals with his usual thematics.

The plot revolves around a murder mystery set in the suburbs in the summer of 1984. This nostalgia-filled story is told from the perspective of characters living in a charming neighbourhood where nothing ever happens, except for that summer, when a body is found in the street, seemingly the victim of a brutal killing. Different yet similar to his previous works, Brubaker tells the story of the murder from the perspective of people who are as broken as you would expect in that type of story. There is the cheating housewife who is excited by the new neighbour, a man pretending to be a police officer. There's a lady who stands watch in front of her house and observes everyone's lives. There's also a little girl who pretends to be a superhero (who seems to be the healthiest character, mentally), teenagers trying to escape authority and a suspicious detective. They are all characters who will suddenly find themselves linked by a murder that no one can explain, yet everyone got quickly a fairly good idea of who's responsible (ideally, someone they don't like).

Beyond the multiple points of view, what makes it interesting is that Brubaker finds something quirky in his writing. It's something new and unexpected that makes his murder mystery almost comedic. Despite the apparent brutality of what happened, it's difficult not to laugh at times at the absurdity of it all. The writer's cynicism is transformed into comedic relief, resulting in an ending that is both unexpected and absolutely perfect, one that I would hate to spoil for you. This is probably one of Brubaker's most interesting comics, and his long-standing collaboration with artist Sean Phillips once again provides some beautiful illustrations that let us feel the overwhelming heat covering the suburbs where the unthinkable has happened. It's beautiful to look at, lovely to read, and full of surprises.

While not as brilliant as The Fade Out, it's still one of his best independent works of recent years, alongside the stunning Reckless series. What made it even better was reading it right after Houses of the Unholy (2024), a very dark and gritty comic dealing with the Satanic Panic that swept the United States in the 1980s. Reading these two comics, released a year apart, back-to-back probably reinforced the unexpected nature of Where the Body Was.