Review: BODIES #2

by Joey Garces
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Bodies #2 (Tula LotaySi Spencer) continues the multi-century long murder mystery that was established in the first issue. The set-up, characters and progress in the cases have remained the same and that’s what makes this so enticing. In this issue we are given tidbits into the backgrounds of certain detectives such as Whiteman and the socio-cultural settings of Hasan along with a little interesting encounter that Maplewood has.

Positives

First and foremost this issue hasn’t made dynamic leaps in progress in these investigations, we are still slowly becoming acquainted with this settings and characters and no new major players were thrown into the mix allowing us to fully take advantage of getting to know our leads and our surroundings better.

This is especially true for Hasan who is set in 2014, we are seeing her reaction to an extremely anti-Semitic mob and we see her strength and independence shine through. She is not a character based solely around her theological beliefs nor is she one of frail emotions. She is a positive character and the fact that she is our contemporary lead she is all the more relatable and engaging to the reader.  No real progress is made on her case yet we see her as a stand out figure in a modern closed minded world. While Whiteman’s sexuality and oppression is further explored in this issue making for an interesting exploration into the mentality and acceptance of his time.  Lastly Maplewood encounters a strange young cannibal gnawing on the corpse she is performing an autopsy on, what’s interesting about this cannibal is not the fact that he’s appeared but the fact that when Maplewood encounters him, he’s muttering phrases from conversations others have had with Whitman! Quite an interesting development to say the least and that’s the last we see of him as he darts out a window, adding more to the already complex mystery at hand.

The mystery as a whole is at  a standstill as previously mentioned, and aside from getting to know our leads better we are being slowly given information in what feels like a fast paced issue. This is a great thing, and while yes we all want to know more about the mystery we aren’t being flown straight to answers, the writers are taking their time and fully fleshing out the settings, characters and the mystery itself. There will be no quick answers in this series, that much is evident and that’s a refreshing sign in the modern world as we are all dependent on near instant gratification, by slowly progressing the story is not only building the reader up to truly intense developments but it is tactfully doing so without spoiling anything by giving the information in a non-interesting, anticlimactic way.

Negatives

Well there aren’t any real negatives to this issue, everything seems fine as it is and this series is definitely one to watch. If there is any negative aspect at all it is that the splitting of the issue into mult-century segments is cutting down on development time for each stage of the mystery. Some readers may not appreciate that and may want to have more of a focus on one particular detective and their development in each issue rather than cover all of them in a very brief manner.

Verdict

Bodies #2 is a fantastic continuation of the series so far and I can’t wait to see where it leads. There is no real major drawback or negative aspect to the issue and while some readers may prefer an emphasis on one particular detective per issue, the way the writers have tactfully laid out each development for each detective there is no real need for detective specific issues at this time. I highly recommend this series to everyone, but be aware that this is a true mystery series and you will need to start from the beginning!

Rating

rating5outof5-300x511

 

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