rltinha's review against another edition
2.0
Podemos sempre contar com os (ex) agentes de uma força imperialista e invasora para historietas sonsas sobre a violência extrema, o choque cultural, e a ingovernabilidade quotidiana de uma nação feita em cacos.
Vacões gonna vacãozate.
E ainda há o segundo volume... Valha-me Nossa Senhora do Imperialismo Armado aos Cucos!
Vacões gonna vacãozate.
E ainda há o segundo volume... Valha-me Nossa Senhora do Imperialismo Armado aos Cucos!
frasersimons's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
A slow burn, methodically paced and plotted story about a former police officer who goes overseas to the war, only to get embroiled in a complex murder. With the recruit of a native police officer, they try to dig into it, only to bite off more than they can chew. There’s a lot about the politics and cultural differences between the countries. It shows that there is no simple solution to anything, and the religious undertones thematically suggest a tragedy of all aspects of the story, due to the ignorance of the complexities.
joshgauthier's review against another edition
5.0
I read volumes 1 and 2 back to back, so I'm going to review the series in more depth with the second volume. In brief, I'll say that this series has excellent art along with dark, complex, and emotional storytelling. It's another example of King's ability to cut to the brutal heart of a story with great effectiveness.
bonerbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Top quality book, just not really my cup of tea. I picked this up for the author hoping the writing would be enough to get me into the subject matter, but I've concluded that war stuff really isn't my thing. If it's yours, definitely give Sheriff of Babylon a go.
iffer's review against another edition
4.0
Really good. This book has the effect that certain films and documentaries do, of a seemingly hands-off, detached approach that somehow communicates the complexity of humans how f***ed up things are. I honestly don't know much about what it was like in the Green Zone post-toppling of Saddam Hussein, but I find this believable because of Tom King's characterization and the lack of blatant good guy/bad guy propaganda (and Tom King's time working for the CIA). The art and writing complement each other perfectly, taking full advantage of the contrapuntal possibilities of graphic storytelling. The text advances the plot while the images depict scenes that convey the tone most of the time, except when a conscious choice was made to emphasize something by having the text and images in sync. The layouts are relatively simple, but the rectangular panels convey a minimalist documentary style.
elturko64's review against another edition
5.0
Wow this book was incredible and gut wrenching. I've been a fan of Tom King since his book "Once a clouded sky" and holy crap did he deliver on this one. Easily top three comic books of this year
tdwightdavis's review against another edition
5.0
First of all, I am of the opinion that Tom King is the single best comic writer out there right now. His Vision run is a masterpiece, his book The Omega Men is brilliant, and his Batman run has been spectacular. On top of his comic writing, his superhero novel A Once Crowded Sky transcended the genre and became an absolutely beautiful piece of literature. The Sheriff of Babylon is King's creator-owned, non-superhero, semi-autobiographical work about a contractor in the Iraqi Green Zone just after the American invasion. This story sees King able to work outside the confines of an editorial rigidity and it really shines. The story is compassionate and shows the horrors of Iraq, the ways in which our war there tore a country apart, but its nuanced and careful to show how human and inhuman such a war can really be.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's beautiful. It's brutal. It's compassionate. It's scathing. It's important. Read everything that Tom King does. But definitely read this.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's beautiful. It's brutal. It's compassionate. It's scathing. It's important. Read everything that Tom King does. But definitely read this.
zzzrevel's review against another edition
3.0
I found this a tad confusing at first, despite
giving the author some leeway to setup his
mystery. Indeed, if I only had the first issue
(of twelve) to start instead of the whole series
I may have never read this whole story.
As it was, patience paid off and the plot and
characters developed nicely. The thrilling
crisis scene however did not really cause
me any tension as it was a bit too slow
moving.
But I even had to chuckle
at what transpires in issue twelve. Kind
of what goes around comes around.
giving the author some leeway to setup his
mystery. Indeed, if I only had the first issue
(of twelve) to start instead of the whole series
I may have never read this whole story.
As it was, patience paid off and the plot and
characters developed nicely. The thrilling
crisis scene however did not really cause
me any tension as it was a bit too slow
moving.
But I even had to chuckle
at what transpires in issue twelve. Kind
of what goes around comes around.
lukeisthename34's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! Breathtaking on so many levels. Heart breaking, well defined characters. Incredible narrative and forced perspective on right and wrong. I cannot wait to read more of this.
tmaluck's review against another edition
5.0
Not unlike stumbling across an HBO drama at a young age and enjoying following the story yourself instead of having your hand held throughout.