Bog Bodies

by Declan Shalvey, Gavin Fullerton (Artist), Rebecca Nalty (Artist)

Overview

An Irish gangster, on the run after a job gone wrong, stumbles upon a young woman lost in the Dublin mountains. Injured and unarmed, the unlikely pair must try to evade their pursuers and survive the desolate bog that has served as burial grounds for unspeakable murder throughout history. DECLAN SHALVEY (INJECTION, SAVAGE TOWN) and GAVIN FULLERTON (Bags) deliver a cold and poignant story of crime, survival, and regret.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534313309
Publisher:	Image Comics
Publication date:	06/02/2020
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	678,759
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Declan Shalvey is an award-winning artist/writer from Ireland. Over his career, Shalvey has illustrated hit titles such as Batman, Deadpool, Punisher, Moon Knight as well as the acclaimed graphic novel series INJECTION with writer Warren Ellis for Image Comics. Since moving into writing, he has gained credits such as, Deadpool VS Old Man Logan, SAVAGE TOWN, and BOG BODIES.

Editorial Reviews

06/08/2020

Set in the Irish countryside during a broodily drawn night, this fast-paced, cheekily cynical crime thriller suggests a Guy Richie movie with a heavy brogue. Killian, a small-time Dublin crook, is hired for a job by his slippery contact Keano, only to discover too late that he’s the real target. Stumbling through the woods with killers on his tail, he runs into a teenage girl called Neev and gets her entangled. The fast-paced action plot bubbles over with bloody violence, rapid-fire dialogue, and black comedy, with just enough character development to make it more than edgy posturing. The art is blocked out in thick lines, deep shadows, and bold washes of color. The characters’ faces, nearly always twisted by smirks, gasps, or grimaces, are nicely observed. Shalvey and Fullerton evoke a seedy noir vision of modern Ireland, where the cities are nests of crime, peat country is where the bodies are buried, and everyone speaks in filthy rat-tat-tat slang. When a character calls a particularly brutal slip-up “the most Irish thing I’ve ever seen,” the reader will be sufficiently drawn into Shalvey and Fullerton’s world to agree. That same reader may be disappointed by the brevity of the volume and its abrupt ending. Until it skids to a halt, though, this is an endearingly bumpy ride. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"A damn good, feel bad comic." -ComicBook.com

"A top flight crime book, managing to be brutal and vulnerable and funny as hell all at the same time." -Warren Ellis

"The story fizzes with black humour and local flourish, and its dialogue hums with the knotty cadences of Dublin speech. The effect is arresting." -The Irish Times

"A seedy noir vision of modern Ireland, where the cities are nests of crime, peat country is where the bodies are buried, and everyone speaks in filthy rat-tat-tat slang." -Publishers Weekly

"A top flight crime book, managing to be brutal and vulnerable and funny as hell all at the same time." -Warren Ellis

From the Publisher

04/03/2020

Illustrator Shalvey (Injection Deluxe Edition. Vol. 1) proves himself an equally talented author in this noir mystery set in the mountains outside Dublin. After bungling a job for a crime boss, Killian wanders through an ancient bog with a pair of aging assassins in close pursuit. When Killian happens across a woman named Neev, who's covered in blood and claims to have no idea how she ended up so far outside the city, the two become unlikely companions. Shalvey has an incredible knack for dialog that crackles with energy tuned to the emotional pitch of a given scene—Killian and Neev bicker nervously as they seek refuge; the conversation between the assassins is made even more chilling by the matter-of-fact tone they take while debating how best to capture their quarry. A climax that takes place outside a small farmhouse on the edge of a graveyard forces all involved to come face-to-face with the repercussions of living outside the law, and questions whether it's possible to commit a sin so great there can be no chance of redemption. VERDICT A fast-paced, thrilling noir perfect for fans of the Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's Criminal and David Lapham's Stray Bullets.—Tom Batten, Grafton, VA

Library Journal