Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Nancy Drew for the Hiperati, 27 Nov 2008
Although this book first appeared in serial form in a weekly newspaper and online, I''d never heard of it until I stumbled across a copy in the library. I'll give just about any graphic novel a few pages to hook me, and this one reeled me in. The story revolves around 18-year-old Bee, a Manahattanite just out of high school, working at a local photo store. Running the processing machine gives the budding photographer ample opportunity to peer into the lives of others. And when she sees something interesting, she prints out an extra copies to shows to her art-school buddy Lyla, over cups of coffee.
Of course, one day, she sees some photos of corpses so strange and real that she gets curious. Soon, she is following a Russian-Armenian wanna-be Weegee across boroughs with the help of a friendly taxi driver, as she tries to figure out if she's looking at snuff shots, well-staged fakes, or simply the work of a genius. Basically, Bee is a classic teen busybody of the Nancy Drew meets Scooby Doo ("If it hadn't been for you pesky kids!") variety, and her investigation is similarly spunky. Before too long, she's got herself into a tight spot and only her quick wits can save her!
The book is fun, but not perfect. The supporting cast is well developed, but tend to walk on stage to perform their little function in the plot, and then disappear. That keeps the story moving at a nice pace, but also somewhat mechanical. The dialogue is much much better than most graphic novels, as the characters actually speak like normal humans, each retaining their own distinct voice. Although, the one big flaw in the plot occurs when Bee eavesdrops on an incriminating conversation taking place in stilted English, when there's no reason the speakers wouldn't just be using their common native Russian.
The art is very crisp and clean, which I quite like. Like the work of the great Belgian cartoonist Herge, the people are cartoony, but realistic enough to fit into the realistic cityscapes they inhabit. The New York that appears in these pages feels much more vivid and lifelike than most cities in graphic novels. The colors are worth mentioning, as their supersaturated hues pop from the page. The top-notch printing, paper, and binding, all combine for a lovely package. Good stuff, well worth checking out.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Nicely executed, if a little clichéd., 27 Oct 2006
Nice little graphic novel about a girl who discovers disturbing things while working in a photography shop developing films. New York and the characters of the city are nicely portrayed. The plot, however, was rather cliched and improbable: at one point our heroine, Bee, is asked by her friend "So, uh, when are you going to call the cops?" The answer is, not just yet as we are only on page 25 out of 150... Still, good fun, if not exactly great literature.
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