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.
sherpawhale's review against another edition
5.0
Holy shit. Just like that, this one bumps up to my top 5 reads of the year, and I passed on this one before finally deciding to give it a chance. I still almost didn't, because I was less than impressed with Tom King's outing in the first Batman volume.
I'm not sure what the problem is on Batman. One thing that was really bothering me there, have all the sentences top out at about 5 words and end up with a stilted flow, is nowhere to be seen here. There's long, thoughtful prose. It's not overly verbose, but everything is delicately expressed.
And oh man, the art. I found myself drooling over the simplest panel, in how clean the lines were and distinct each character was.
There's so much richness to found for a story, in tales about a glorious mess of humanity. The fall of Saddam Hussein and the resulting fallout from Americans who have little-t0-no understanding of a culture and civilization that is based on millenia of history fits that bill. It's all screwed up, and that means humanity is going to be at its most desperate. Have fun with that rich fodder.
Oh, and something else I enjoyed was the little background recurring theme of cats eating things. A cat eating the bodies of its family shot to pieces in their living room and left as a message. A cat eating the bodies of rats in one of Saddam's old bombed-out pool houses. Uday's lions eating tortured prisoners. Just a little extra consistency that pulls this series together.
I'm not sure what the problem is on Batman. One thing that was really bothering me there, have all the sentences top out at about 5 words and end up with a stilted flow, is nowhere to be seen here. There's long, thoughtful prose. It's not overly verbose, but everything is delicately expressed.
And oh man, the art. I found myself drooling over the simplest panel, in how clean the lines were and distinct each character was.
There's so much richness to found for a story, in tales about a glorious mess of humanity. The fall of Saddam Hussein and the resulting fallout from Americans who have little-t0-no understanding of a culture and civilization that is based on millenia of history fits that bill. It's all screwed up, and that means humanity is going to be at its most desperate. Have fun with that rich fodder.
Oh, and something else I enjoyed was the little background recurring theme of cats eating things. A cat eating the bodies of its family shot to pieces in their living room and left as a message. A cat eating the bodies of rats in one of Saddam's old bombed-out pool houses. Uday's lions eating tortured prisoners. Just a little extra consistency that pulls this series together.
thebass1125's review against another edition
4.0
Really great King work in a setting rarely visited in comics.
mountsleepyhead's review against another edition
4.0
The Sheriff of Babylon sucks you into an incredibly murky Iraq War circa 2003 and tries to make some sense of the absolute chaos. Because of the differences in culture, the complications and complexity of the war in Iraq (and subsequently the War on Terror) are so often viewed as a black and white, us versus the Terrorists, and as a result we forget that real people live where we are fighting and bombing. The Sheriff of Babylon does a great job bringing humanity to both sides of the situation while trying to inform the readership of the situation while wrapping it up in a bit of a detective story. That is a lot of moving parts, and writer Tom King and illustrator Mitch Gerads do a great job telling an inherently messy story in an artful manner.
peyton_'s review against another edition
3.0
The Sheriff of Babylon follows American Soldiers in Iraq. The different characters all play a different role in the war. I felt that The Sheriff of Babylon dealt more with broad themes of war compared to other war graphic novels, such as The White Donkey by Maximilian Uriarte.
I had a difficult time getting into this graphic novel. It was recommended to me by a friend, so it is not the kind of book that I tend to gravitate towards. I just did not like this particular narrative of the war. I understand that it is an accurate portrayal, but I prefer to read to escape, not to be in a place of terror.
Now, having said all this, I do recommend The Sheriff of Babylon for people interested about the war, or who enjoy reading about it. It is a well done book and a good read. It is just not my genre of literature.
I had a difficult time getting into this graphic novel. It was recommended to me by a friend, so it is not the kind of book that I tend to gravitate towards. I just did not like this particular narrative of the war. I understand that it is an accurate portrayal, but I prefer to read to escape, not to be in a place of terror.
Now, having said all this, I do recommend The Sheriff of Babylon for people interested about the war, or who enjoy reading about it. It is a well done book and a good read. It is just not my genre of literature.