The Scene of the Crime
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- Create Date：2021-05-02 08:51:58
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Ed Brubaker
- ISBN：1534319344
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Summary
Back in print as a first-ever trade paperback comes a lost crime noir masterpiece。 Long out of print， SCENE OF THE CRIME was the first time ED BRUBAKER and MICHAEL LARK worked together―before their acclaimed runs on Daredevil and Gotham Central―and was inked by SEAN PHILLIPS， who also designed this edition。
This is where it all began， with a hard-hitting mystery story set in a modern-day Chinatown that garnered nominations for Best Miniseries and Best Writer in the 2000 Eisner Awards。 Also included in this new collection are behind-the-scenes art and stories， a new foreword by BRUBAKER， and many other extras。
This is where it all began， with a hard-hitting mystery story set in a modern-day Chinatown that garnered nominations for Best Miniseries and Best Writer in the 2000 Eisner Awards。 Also included in this new collection are behind-the-scenes art and stories， a new foreword by BRUBAKER， and many other extras。
Reviews
Emmanuel
，
You can see all the elements of the brillant team that Brubaker and Phillips will become。 It doesn’t have the great pace of their later stories， nor the perfect touch in character and scene design， but it is still very good。 It feels more clichéd than their other stories too， but hey， you gotta start somewhere！ Anyhow， I recommend it to any fan of this great duo or of crime stories in general。
Deane Hariss
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I had a lot of “True Detective” season 1 Vibes throughout this which is obviously a good thing。 Even in the mystery game early Ed Brubaker wrote an amazing quick little gem。
Kevidently
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Last year， I picked up a hardcover copy of Pulp， a part-Western， part-noir bit of comic narrative by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips。 I loved it， and wondered what else these two had done together。 This is because I'm an idiot。 I've long been familiar with the two names in comics。 Brubaker （along with his partner Michael Lark） did a long run on my favorite comic， Daredevil， and also developed and co-wrote Gotham Central， a street-level look at cops in Batman's city。 I loved this guy。But Brubaker/P Last year， I picked up a hardcover copy of Pulp， a part-Western， part-noir bit of comic narrative by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips。 I loved it， and wondered what else these two had done together。 This is because I'm an idiot。 I've long been familiar with the two names in comics。 Brubaker （along with his partner Michael Lark） did a long run on my favorite comic， Daredevil， and also developed and co-wrote Gotham Central， a street-level look at cops in Batman's city。 I loved this guy。But Brubaker/Phillips had really made their name in semi-independent crime and horror-noir （Fatale， Criminal， Incognito， The Fade Out）， and despite this being directly in my wheelhouse， I avoided it all。 Why？ Well， I'd like to say it's because I wanted to preserve my favorite writers and artists for a rainy day or something。 The truth is， even though I'm a sucker for noir， I hate smoking。 I just hate it so much。 And if a cover features a character smoking， I will not buy it。 It's not that I've mellowed over the years， but The Scene of the Crime - an early 2000s neo-noir written by Brubaker， drawn by Lark， and inked by Phillips - caught me before I could change my mind。 I've made a long habit out of rationalizing enjoying art when smoking is involved （being in love with Tarantino films has been a colossal effort）， but in Scene of the Crime， my saving grace was that none of the three main characters did it， so I could be safe with them。 It's absurd， I know。 But it's how my brain has to work to help me like stuff like this。 And I do like it。 Quite a lot， actually。 It's sort of a boilerplate mystery of missing persons， cults， unbelievable abuse， and a lone-wolf private eye with a Dark Backstory。 What makes Scene of the Crime work so well is the characters， as is generally the case with crime fiction。 Jack Harriman is a young detective trying to move past his demons; he kind of reminds me of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder， if he was a lot younger。 I liked the color of San Francisco - kind of the prime locus of this kind of fiction （it makes me want to read more crime fiction from the 1940s） - and the fact that in this world， a crime-scene photographer can be famous enough to warrant a small museum dedicated to him。 Lark's art reminds me a lot of David Aja's work in Hawkeye， a lot of heavy linework and a xerographic feel that makes everything a little grittier。 I think I'm going to have to work through my phobia to read more work by these two， especially since The Fade Out is about old Hollywood， and oh my am I a sucker for that stuff。 I'm really glad this story is back in print （with extras！ a bonus story！ behind the scenes stuff！ a Bendis intro！） and I'm looking forward to a journey of exploration。 。。。more
Andy N
，
* An slightly different audio version will appear on the Reading in Bed Podcast for April 2021 in April which is available on all the usual networks including readinginbed。bandcamp。com ** This is a review of the 2021 reissue graphic paperback *BLURB:From the co-creators of Gotham Central and FATALE comes a lost crime noir masterpiece。 SCENE OF THE CRIME was the first time ED BRUBAKER and MICHAEL LARK worked together--before their acclaimed runs on Daredevil and Gotham Central-- and it was inked * An slightly different audio version will appear on the Reading in Bed Podcast for April 2021 in April which is available on all the usual networks including readinginbed。bandcamp。com ** This is a review of the 2021 reissue graphic paperback *BLURB:From the co-creators of Gotham Central and FATALE comes a lost crime noir masterpiece。 SCENE OF THE CRIME was the first time ED BRUBAKER and MICHAEL LARK worked together--before their acclaimed runs on Daredevil and Gotham Central-- and it was inked by SEAN PHILLIPS。 This is where it all began， with a hard-hitting mystery story， a modern day 'Chinatown' that garnered nominations for Best Miniseries and Best Writer in the 2000 Eisner Awards。 STRENGTHS:I’ve got the comics from this all too short run from 1999 I seem to recall and I forgot exactly what drew me to this very crime based comic by the three， although I was certainly a fan of Sean Phillips before this and became a big fan of all three afterwards with ongoing projects nowadays。The main story of the two stories in the book is ‘A Little piece of goodnight’ where we meet P。I。 Jack Herriman who gets approached to look into a missing girl by her mother and sister， both of which haven’t heard from her for a while。I’ll be careful what I reveal here as I don’t want to reveal too much， but I remember well the end of the 1st chapter at the time when it came out which still leaves me stunned now over twenty years later and while wordy for the comic / graphic novel， the mood carries along nicely throughout the novel。Batman as a detective comic it is not， its a more of a tour of the bay area， from the mission district across the bay to Oakland and while it is not a area I know， it carries along nicely and does not make everything clear until right to the end。The second piece “God & Sinners” which is a bonus kind of story which was published a few months before the main story I enjoyed even more and tells a cracking story about Christmas and Miracles which shows how much a good of a ongoing series this could have become。 WEAKNESSES:While this book is moody， and the graphics are great， the plot does contain pedorphilla and incest and it is not for everybody as word of warning。 It is also very， very wordy and is quite slow。 It stands up well after twenty years probably even more now as I think comics have changed over the years and perhaps if wrote nowadays would be accepted well now。 As a early collection， there is lots of elements of his crime comics showing through and his and Phillip’s new collection ‘Reckless’ does have some elements of it in this but I hesistsate to compare this to work all three have done since。 Brukabker’s prose is not as fluid as it became in this book。 I think this was his first mainstream series and the afterword in this book shows the writer being very honest about his work in this book and why it didn’t become a ongoing series which I would have loved to have seen more here。 8/10 。。。more
Jipi Perreault
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It's not as refined as later Brubaker's work but it's a satisfiyng read for the fans who'd like to read the early days of crime drama master。 It's not as refined as later Brubaker's work but it's a satisfiyng read for the fans who'd like to read the early days of crime drama master。 。。。more
Jamie Connolly
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Wow that was pretty impressive actually。 Definitely the best noir I've read in a while that I can think of。 You could guess some things but still had a lot of questions going on and wheels were turning the whole time。 Really well told too。 I'm impressed。 5 stars。 Wow that was pretty impressive actually。 Definitely the best noir I've read in a while that I can think of。 You could guess some things but still had a lot of questions going on and wheels were turning the whole time。 Really well told too。 I'm impressed。 5 stars。 。。。more
Tony
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Late 1990s San Francisco is the setting for this crime graphic novel， originally published in 1999 under the title "Scene of the Crime: A Little Piece of Goodnight。" The author cites the influence of Ross MacDonald in the afterword， and this definitely carries the feel of one of those bleak 1970s crime stories where the truth is discovered by an intrepid private eye， but there's no happy ending or true justice。 The protagonist is Jack Herriman， who works out of an office above his Weegeesque unc Late 1990s San Francisco is the setting for this crime graphic novel， originally published in 1999 under the title "Scene of the Crime: A Little Piece of Goodnight。" The author cites the influence of Ross MacDonald in the afterword， and this definitely carries the feel of one of those bleak 1970s crime stories where the truth is discovered by an intrepid private eye， but there's no happy ending or true justice。 The protagonist is Jack Herriman， who works out of an office above his Weegeesque uncle's gallery of crime scene photos。 His dead father's old police partner asks him to help a friend track down her missing sister。That simple thread leads him down a twisty path involving a weird sex cult， drugs， a horrific fire from 15 years ago， and lots of dark secrets。 （Warning: the plot invovles pedophilia and incest。） It's a bit of a grand tour of the Bay Area， from the Mission District， south to Santa Cruz， north to Santa Rosa， and across the bay to Oakland。 Readers will likely be able to work out or guess some of the plot twists， but it's mostly a well-crafted tale that doesn't rely on gimmickry， but rather the consequences of trauma。 The artwork is hard-edged and hard-toned， and while not particularly memorable， matches the mood of the story。 The paneling is about as vanilla as it gets， unfurling the story in 5-8 strict rectangular shots per page。 It is quite wordy， with lots of letting cluttering the panels -- in the afterword， Brubaker admits that he would have written it much more tightly if he were doing it today。 All in all， a very effective example of a crime comic that feels like it could be a full novel。 。。。more
Andrew
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At the very beginning of their comics careers， each of these creators lay the groundwork for their later award-winning work。
Patrycja
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I thought it is really a good graphic novel。 It is entertaining， filled with crime， murders and mysteries。 The story is aimed for mature audience。 I enjoyed the art。 It's like watching action movie on pages。 I loved the collection of behind the scenes art and stories that are included at the end of the book。 As well as another， short graphic story at the end。I am ready for me。 I received digital copy from Edelweiss 。 I thought it is really a good graphic novel。 It is entertaining， filled with crime， murders and mysteries。 The story is aimed for mature audience。 I enjoyed the art。 It's like watching action movie on pages。 I loved the collection of behind the scenes art and stories that are included at the end of the book。 As well as another， short graphic story at the end。I am ready for me。 I received digital copy from Edelweiss 。 。。。more
RG
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Brubaker fanboy but cant believe i haven't read this before。 Typical dark detective noir story。 Very disturbing at times。 Brubaker fanboy but cant believe i haven't read this before。 Typical dark detective noir story。 Very disturbing at times。 。。。more
Robert
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A bit wordy， but a strong overall story。
Rory Wilding
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Originally published in 1999 by Vertigo as a four-issue miniseries， Brubaker’s breakout comic Scene of the Crime gets a new paperback edition with an introduction from Brian Michael Bendis， someone who is no stranger to crime comics and refers to this title as his favorite Brubaker comic。 Will it be my favorite from the writer’s bibliography？Please click here for my full review。 Originally published in 1999 by Vertigo as a four-issue miniseries， Brubaker’s breakout comic Scene of the Crime gets a new paperback edition with an introduction from Brian Michael Bendis， someone who is no stranger to crime comics and refers to this title as his favorite Brubaker comic。 Will it be my favorite from the writer’s bibliography？Please click here for my full review。 。。。more
Lauren
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I liked Knut and Molly， but that’s about it。 Noir continues to be a genre of which I like the aesthetic， but little else。
Andrew Bundy
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3。5 Stars
Jammin Jenny
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I really loved this new graphic novel series， The Scene of the Crime。 It features a PI named Jack Herriman， who's had a rough life growing up， and he gets a case from an old buddy to help find Maggie Jordan who's been missing for several days。 I love the crime noir setting and it is definitely a hard-boiled detective story。 The artwork was excellent and I felt very engaged with the whole story。I received an e-ARC of this book by the author and publisher （Image Comics） via Edelweiss。 This does no I really loved this new graphic novel series， The Scene of the Crime。 It features a PI named Jack Herriman， who's had a rough life growing up， and he gets a case from an old buddy to help find Maggie Jordan who's been missing for several days。 I love the crime noir setting and it is definitely a hard-boiled detective story。 The artwork was excellent and I felt very engaged with the whole story。I received an e-ARC of this book by the author and publisher （Image Comics） via Edelweiss。 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book。 。。。more
Bexa
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Remastered after being out of print for over a decade， Jack Herriman is back at the scene of the crime。 Living with his "aunt" and "uncle"， the latter who owns a gallery of his famous crime scene photographs， Jack is a private investigator who gets pulled into a seemingly easy case of a missing girl。 Able to track her down after a day of digging around， Jack thinks that this was too simple of a job。 Turns out he was right as he gets a call the next morning that the missing girl is now dead。 Pull Remastered after being out of print for over a decade， Jack Herriman is back at the scene of the crime。 Living with his "aunt" and "uncle"， the latter who owns a gallery of his famous crime scene photographs， Jack is a private investigator who gets pulled into a seemingly easy case of a missing girl。 Able to track her down after a day of digging around， Jack thinks that this was too simple of a job。 Turns out he was right as he gets a call the next morning that the missing girl is now dead。 Pulled into a family mess that started decades ago， Jack has to get the answers， even if it means exposing some deep secrets。 I have never read the original version， but I loved the hard-boiled affect this story provides。 I really liked the artistic effect of Jack's face always being half in dark because of his blind eye。 Well worth the praise it's been given， worth picking up if you've never read the original。 。。。more
Adriana
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Is it possible that every Brubaker book I read is the best Brubaker book I've ever read？ Because that's what keeps happening。 Even with this book that's actually a reprint of a long out-of-print series。 If it's the first time Brubaker and Michale Lark worked together， then I can see why they've done such great work over the years。 It's a masterclass in modern crime storytelling that should be on every noir or crime reader's shelves。。 Even for those that don't usually read graphic novels。 It's th Is it possible that every Brubaker book I read is the best Brubaker book I've ever read？ Because that's what keeps happening。 Even with this book that's actually a reprint of a long out-of-print series。 If it's the first time Brubaker and Michale Lark worked together， then I can see why they've done such great work over the years。 It's a masterclass in modern crime storytelling that should be on every noir or crime reader's shelves。。 Even for those that don't usually read graphic novels。 It's that good。The slow reveal of each element as our private eye hero， Jack Herriman， slowly unravels the complex plot is brilliant。 And the twists and revelations only get better by the page。 I honestly don't want to get into the plot for fear of ruining something about it。 Just trust me。 It's brilliantly executed。 。。。more
Theediscerning
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Well， this was a suitably gritty and intelligent crime piece from Ed Brubaker （at this stage of his career only using Sean Phillips for inking）， but it can't live with the claim in the introduction that it's his best work。 At least this reins in the whole 'just one more job he'll live to regret – if he's lucky' shtick of so many noirs， but there is a strong flavour of that at the beginning， where we see our private eye hero asked by a copper friend's mistress to look for her missing sister。 Of c Well， this was a suitably gritty and intelligent crime piece from Ed Brubaker （at this stage of his career only using Sean Phillips for inking）， but it can't live with the claim in the introduction that it's his best work。 At least this reins in the whole 'just one more job he'll live to regret – if he's lucky' shtick of so many noirs， but there is a strong flavour of that at the beginning， where we see our private eye hero asked by a copper friend's mistress to look for her missing sister。 Of course he finds the sister， of course she's hot， of course her days are numbered， but it's the twisty story long before that that proves to be the real deal here。What is lacking however is Brubaker's concision – normally he's as flab-free as his own first name。 This does look verbose， and takes much longer than many of his more recent stories to read – and yet to its credit it doesn't really outstay its welcome， even while its finger is definitely stroking the button marked 'danger， this much yacking about what makes mankind so shitty will lead to derision'。 No， if anything the flaws are not in the word count but in how much of the solution here is easily guessable。 A one-shot that helped place the book at Vertigo is reasonable， too， but suffers from the usual problems with short， seasonal pieces written to fill an anthology。 Still， while this is not without flaws it never got to the stage I was regretting reading it。 Three and a half stars， methinks。 。。。more
Annalisa
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This was a really fascinating but tragic mystery。 It kept me guessing and very intrigued。 It was also very emotional。 I thought well written and well done。 I really liked it
Alexander Peterhans
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A reprint of Ed Brubaker's first real crime story！ The other half， Sean Phillips， is here as inker， while pencilling is done by Michael Lark。This new edition also includes a sort-of-Christmas short story set in the Scene setting， which had been published in Vertigo Winter's Edge， a couple of months before this book was originally published。There's the usual look at process， although I feel it's more interesting here， to see what Phillips added as an inker （I do feel Lark's art misses what Philli A reprint of Ed Brubaker's first real crime story！ The other half， Sean Phillips， is here as inker， while pencilling is done by Michael Lark。This new edition also includes a sort-of-Christmas short story set in the Scene setting， which had been published in Vertigo Winter's Edge， a couple of months before this book was originally published。There's the usual look at process， although I feel it's more interesting here， to see what Phillips added as an inker （I do feel Lark's art misses what Phillips later wil add in spades）。There's an essay-length piece by Ed Brubaker looking back how important this book was to himself as a writer， and to his career。 Included are bits of script， character descriptions。On to the meat of the book - the original story。 It is interesting to see how much of Brubaker tropes were already in play， while also indicating how much better a writer he is currently - there is a LOT of dialogue and narration。 There is so much that it suffocates the page， and for me the experience of reading the book became slow and stodgy。 （Interestingly， Brubaker himself mentions in his lookback that he now cringes at seeing how overloaded the word balloons are。）The story isn't bad， it just lacks in the pacing department。 I have wondered whether I am just not a 'crime noir' person， but then I've really enjoyed other Brubaker/Phillips books。I have to stop using the word 'interesting' so much， but that's what this book is to me; interesting， and just okay。（Picked up an ARC from Edelweiss） 。。。more
Travis
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Generally always enjoy Brubaker's noirs， and this one was exactly what I expected。 Generally always enjoy Brubaker's noirs， and this one was exactly what I expected。 。。。more
Will Cooper
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Not very exciting。 But this is Brubaker's very early work， so you should go read everything else he's written because they are amazing。 Not very exciting。 But this is Brubaker's very early work， so you should go read everything else he's written because they are amazing。 。。。more
Lashaan Balasingam （Bookidote）
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This was a terrifyingly slow-paced crime noir story with a boring and unimpressive lead character that almost never gave you any good reason to care for the case at hand。 While it is still objectively incredibly well-told， it was too wordy for its own good。Yours truly，Lashaan | Blogger and Book ReviewerOfficial blog: https://bookidote。com/ This was a terrifyingly slow-paced crime noir story with a boring and unimpressive lead character that almost never gave you any good reason to care for the case at hand。 While it is still objectively incredibly well-told， it was too wordy for its own good。Yours truly，Lashaan | Blogger and Book ReviewerOfficial blog: https://bookidote。com/ 。。。more
Chad
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If you enjoyed Criminal and want some more noir from Brubaker， this is worth checking out。 One of Brubaker's earliest works， originally published by Vertigo in 1998， Scene of the Crime is a modern day noir set in San Francisco。 This is your straight up， traditional hard-boiled detective story。 The main character is hired to find a missing sister。 It goes wrong and digs deeper into a really messed up story。 Michael Lark's and Sean Phillips's fits in great with the setting。 If you enjoyed Criminal and want some more noir from Brubaker， this is worth checking out。 One of Brubaker's earliest works， originally published by Vertigo in 1998， Scene of the Crime is a modern day noir set in San Francisco。 This is your straight up， traditional hard-boiled detective story。 The main character is hired to find a missing sister。 It goes wrong and digs deeper into a really messed up story。 Michael Lark's and Sean Phillips's fits in great with the setting。 。。。more
Václav
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（4 of 5 for nice "classic Brubaker edition" story but forget the art。。。）Going retrospectively after all that Criminal I went for Scene of the Crime。 And I'm surprised how good the story is。 Yes， it's classic noir-ish Brubaker crime story， but Ed is master of this genre， so I probably will never get bored by him even with hundredth Criminal-like comics。Scene of the Crime has a nice pace， cleverly processing in the story， lifelike characters and terrific endings。 And that is true for both the main （4 of 5 for nice "classic Brubaker edition" story but forget the art。。。）Going retrospectively after all that Criminal I went for Scene of the Crime。 And I'm surprised how good the story is。 Yes， it's classic noir-ish Brubaker crime story， but Ed is master of this genre， so I probably will never get bored by him even with hundredth Criminal-like comics。Scene of the Crime has a nice pace， cleverly processing in the story， lifelike characters and terrific endings。 And that is true for both the main story and the short one， which is at the end of this book （and is awesome）。 I also liked the afterword from Ed， which is unusual because few of the afterwords are actually interesting/funny/that informative。 The art is fine。 Well， the pencil & ink is OK， but the colouring is crap。 I didn't like it a bit， it's shoddy （James Sinclair missed some colouring， for the example the scotch is transparent and so on。。。） and the colours feel weird to me。 I wish that Sean Phillips wold do the colours， not only helped with the ink。 But the content overcomes the art， so it is worth reading， especially for the Criminal fans。 。。。more
Pete
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Crime noir done nicely。 The story has all the classic noir twists with a young but still damaged protagonist。 The art is masterful。 There are hippies。 What’s not to like？The deluxe book includes a one shot story with the same main character。 Equally enjoyable。 Embrace the healing power of an orgasm and check out some early Brubaker/Phillips goodness。
AlyssumAcantha
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Meh plot if you're a fan of classic hardboilers， meh artwork no matter how you look at it。 Issues 3 and 4 were the weakest - a bunch of cliches collaged together。 It read like it was trying to be sensational for sensationalism's sake， like something you'd find on some edgelord's personal blog。 I did like the character's musings towards the end of the last issue， but it felt a bit rushed。 Meh plot if you're a fan of classic hardboilers， meh artwork no matter how you look at it。 Issues 3 and 4 were the weakest - a bunch of cliches collaged together。 It read like it was trying to be sensational for sensationalism's sake， like something you'd find on some edgelord's personal blog。 I did like the character's musings towards the end of the last issue， but it felt a bit rushed。 。。。more
Highland G
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Excellent book。 Been a while since I first read it so was nice to revisit the characters。 I did figure it out before the end though。 That’s just what happens when you have read something previously。May be a bit wordy for some， lots of narration， especially early on。 I really enjoyed the reread， gritty private detective story where you learn as much about the detective as you do the criminals。
Brenton Walters
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Classic LA noir。 3。5 stars for me。 It hit a lot of the right buttons but not the key buttons。 It could have been a bit slower paced， maybe， and moodier。That said， it is a good read， some good characters， very good art。 A classic in the genre， worth your time to track down and read。
Dan Blackley
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My comic book guy， Kenny， recommended this to me。 He knows I like crime fiction and Brubaker。 This is one of his best！
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Scene of the Crime
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Scene of the Crime&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft