Rating: 
Summary: Image grows-up
Review: I've read a few Bendis titles in the past and have been just okay with them. I ran across this one at the library and decided to give it a try. Absolutely stunning. This guy shouldn't waste his time with hero comics because when he's just okay with them. While getting his hands around historical crime, he just explodes into someone like a Caleb could only hope to be. This was on level with "From Hell" in the graphic world and Elroy's "Black Dahlia" in non-graphic, but lacking some of their depth. Well researched and well presented. It's a story I had never heard of and will definitely read more about in the future. The presentation, which is something I rarely comment on in a graphic book, was unbelelievable. I loved the mixture of drawing with old photography. I was impressed with the authentic dialogue based on periodic idiomatic expressions. And the wording, I just came away so impressed with it. The way it was connected to visually cue your eyes to the graphics. And how it was always easy to follow the structure due to this, even though it was anything but the linear paneling we are used to with comics. One moment that is just spectacular is an interrogation of a potential suspect by Eliot Ness and how the format swirls around two pages leading into a metaphorical abyss. And you'll have to read a little more to understand that abyss comment. Loved the ending! Loved the ending! Loved the ending! It may not meet the expectations of those that demand conclusion, but there was something so fundamental about the nature of power there that I just loved it. Top 5 all time Graphic Novel. And who can ever compete with Sandman, so let's be real and say Top 4;)
Rating:
Summary: Image grows-up
Review: I've read a few Bendis titles in the past and have been just okay with them. I ran across this one at the library and decided to give it a try. Absolutely stunning. This guy shouldn't waste his time with hero comics because when he's just okay with them. While getting his hands around historical crime, he just explodes into someone like a Caleb could only hope to be. This was on level with "From Hell" in the graphic world and Elroy's "Black Dahlia" in non-graphic, but lacking some of their depth. Well researched and well presented. It's a story I had never heard of and will definitely read more about in the future. The presentation, which is something I rarely comment on in a graphic book, was unbelelievable. I loved the mixture of drawing with old photography. I was impressed with the authentic dialogue based on periodic idiomatic expressions. And the wording, I just came away so impressed with it. The way it was connected to visually cue your eyes to the graphics. And how it was always easy to follow the structure due to this, even though it was anything but the linear paneling we are used to with comics. One moment that is just spectacular is an interrogation of a potential suspect by Eliot Ness and how the format swirls around two pages leading into a metaphorical abyss. And you'll have to read a little more to understand that abyss comment. Loved the ending! Loved the ending! Loved the ending! It may not meet the expectations of those that demand conclusion, but there was something so fundamental about the nature of power there that I just loved it. Top 5 all time Graphic Novel. And who can ever compete with Sandman, so let's be real and say Top 4;)
Rating: 
Summary: Torso
Review: Pretty awesome story on the final part of Eliot Ness' life in Cleveland, trying to catch the torso killer (both authors are from Cleveland)
Bendis is more widly known as a comic book writer but his art ain't bad. Lots of use of shadows and actually he does some creative stuff with panels and photography as well
I think the Amazon description is wrong, Bendis also collaborated on the writing
Rating:
Summary: NOT a childrens book!
Review: This book is an amazing display of Brian Michael Bendis story telling ability. He guides us through the world of Elliot Ness as he searches for the world's first serial killer. What amazes me most is his relentless re-telling of a real life story from begining to end the true events are dramatizes in an extrordinary way. Great, scary, facinating ride through the city of Cleveland in the 1930's ... but this is not a kids book!
Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced chasing of a killer on the loose
Review: This collection contains the complete Torso story, one of the earlier works of now well-known comic-book author Bendis. A story about the hunt for a serial killer whose trademark it was to leave his victims behind with their head, hands and feet cut of, based on real events. Eliot Ness, the man who has recently helped put Al Capone behind bars, has only just been installed as Clevelands new 'safety-director' when two corpses are discovered in a local field. Both corpses are heavily cut up, only the torsos are left behind. This comes as an extra job in Ness' agenda in which he had already decided to clean up this, for now, corrupt city. When more and more corpses quickly turn up though, it becomes priority. From there on it becomes an interesting story, working towards a not-so-average conclusion. The link to Alan Moore's 'From Hell' is easily made, but apart from the same basic idea (report of a serial-murderers past spree) the two books are very different. Where 'From Hell' is all about information, backgrounds and completeness this book focuses purely on the chase, the point of view of the investigators (Bendis gift for dialogue is important in this). Therefore it should be approached purely as a tale, not as a source of information on the events. And despite of the big amount of pages it's very fast-paced, not a long-read. The black-and-white art is pretty simple and shouldn't be the reason to buy this book. Simple cartoony (maybe TOO cartoony for this type of story) characters with backgrounds that are sometimes almost non-existent and sometimes pictures from the real scenes, crowds and locations of the particular murder-spree. All in all not Bendis best-scripted book but certainly enjoyable and worth the read, despite of the high cover-price.
Rating:
Summary: Better than From Hell? Possibly
Review: Torso by Brian Michael Bendis is a look at the Cleveland Torso Killer, a serial killer of the 1930's. Like From Hell, Torso, a black and white graphic novel, seeks to examine the events of a true crime event. Bendis, like Moore, experiments with panel layouts, different shades of darkness, and focuses on some gory stuff. But, despite the subject matter, Bendis is able to enlighten the reader about life in a midwestern city during the Depression. The dialogue and characterization is dead on. Where this book lacks, especially in comparison to From Hell, is background information. The appendix is sparse and left me wanting to find out more and to know what Bendis invented and what he researched since obviously he did a lot of researching. I'd have to say that this book was better than From Hell, although that may be because it is a little more modern and is about an American event and hits a little closer to home than Moore's very English novel. It is very tight, the pacing is well done, and the characterization of the leads is well fleshed out.
Rating:
Summary: Better than From Hell? Possibly
Review: Torso by Brian Michael Bendis is a look at the Cleveland Torso Killer, a serial killer of the 1930's. Like From Hell, Torso, a black and white graphic novel, seeks to examine the events of a true crime event. Bendis, like Moore, experiments with panel layouts, different shades of darkness, and focuses on some gory stuff. But, despite the subject matter, Bendis is able to enlighten the reader about life in a midwestern city during the Depression. The dialogue and characterization is dead on. Where this book lacks, especially in comparison to From Hell, is background information. The appendix is sparse and left me wanting to find out more and to know what Bendis invented and what he researched since obviously he did a lot of researching. I'd have to say that this book was better than From Hell, although that may be because it is a little more modern and is about an American event and hits a little closer to home than Moore's very English novel. It is very tight, the pacing is well done, and the characterization of the leads is well fleshed out.
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