The Private Eye

Vaughan & Martin's THE PRIVATE EYE is a future noir mystery. I made my purchase based upon a 'reminiscent of' comment someone made online about another book I'd bought. I'm glad I put my doubts behind me and pressed the purchase button on Amazon. THE PRIVATE EYE is a tour de force effort, the creative contributions are solid in every corner: writing & dialogue, art & coloring; even the lettering is topnotch. Who notices lettering? It's supposed to be as invisible as movie edits, but it's sublimely expressive and unobtrusive, especially when the French characters and, in some cases, when DeGuerre speak. The logos all over the backgrounds and the faux Marlboro pack neatly anchor the tale in reality even though the events take place in 2076.The story and art are the obvious stars of this show---a parallel could be drawn to Led Zeppelin's Page and Plant's front men strengths with a stellar Bonham/Jones rhythm section assuring a nimble, equally talented back line rear guard. I can't assign enough superlatives to all aspects of THE PRIVATE EYE's tour de force creative/production team: quirky characterizations sidestep stereotypes, an uncompromising gritty storyline is offset with melancholy and humor, edgy artwork (especially set dressing like cars, costumes, architecture and a rocket), as well as the aforementioned coloring and lettering. I read THE PRIVATE EYE cover-to-cover twice to get the full impact because even the minor characters tell their own brief tales of woe on the sidelines of the crowd scenes. The book is saturated with brilliance, a breath of rarefied air. I found the behind the scenes pre-production notes an unexpected treat, devouring them with the same hunger as the main course.In all honesty I didn't expect a graphic novel to be THIS good, a new and lofty high watermark has been set. Even Raymond Chandler would have to acknowledge being impressed, and he had a bad reputation of being most unkind to his contemporaries and competitors. Hats off to all involved in THE PRIVATE EYE. If a movie was filmed using the book as storyboards I doubt any cinema crew on the planet could top it.My only complaint is I found the rectangular hardback extremely difficult to read unless placed on a flat surface. The pages have a tendency to stick together (not sticky but static electricity) and often took as long as 15 to 20 seconds to prize apart when I wanted anxiously to turn the page, mildly irritating but ultimately insignificant.

The Private Eye is a great story from one of the mediums best storytellers.You should go into this book as blind as you can but I'll tell you this; it's an incredibly unique (and honestly not all that fantastical) glimpse into the future. There are some "cyberpunk" elements, but it feels wholly original.The long horizontal shape of the book can be a minor annoyance, but for the most part it works to supplement the uniqueness of the tale within its pages. Highly recommended.

What an incredible story! I recently purchased this title again after someone stole my previous copy and what an amazing time I had reading it! The art, the writing and how appropriate it is when we currently live in a world where you go outside wearing a mask!

Brian K Vaughn and Marcos Martin's "The Private Eye" is a masterpiece. Published online initially, with an "In Rainbows" style business model, the final printed version they released is simply dazzling. It's easily one of the best comics I've read in a long while. It's not quite the nuclear tour-de-force of "The Sculptor" but it retains that wonderful noir element of "Criminal" while also mixing in copious amounts of Blade Runner. The format itself is also fascinating, presented in a 16x9 aspect book as opposed to a standard form comic, the formatting itself lends to the thematic composition of the comic from start to finish.Overall, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

I was originally very excited when I heard that Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin were going to be collaborating on a creator owned book. I've very much enjoyed pretty much everything Vaughn has done and I came to really like Martin's artwork through his work on Spiderman. My excitement diminished quite a lot when they announced the book would only be available digitally online. I prefer physical books, especially when it comes to ones that rely heavily on their art. Luckily a few years later they released this physical edition and here we are.Martin's artwork is again wonderful. His work can seem minimal at times, with stark single color backgrounds but he tells the story fantastically and all the required detail is there. The plot takes a loot at what's going on in the world today with things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. People are basically broadcasting their entire lives, but what if something happened that truly revealed everything. Every search you ever did, every email, text, or photo you ever uploaded, out there for anyone to see. That's what happened in this world and now no one leaves the house without some kind of mask or disguise on, the internet is no more, people get their information from books and libraries, and journalists are among the most important and respected people around.Our main character works on the fringe of this society, he is a paparazzi. For a nominal fee he will do some digging to find out things would like to keep private and eventually one case goes a bit off the rails.This edition also gives you some sketches as well as a series of emails between Vaughn and Martin as they discuss the book and what it eventually becomes.

Awesome epic mysterious story, incredible art style, extra wide pages.I was looking for a kind of crime/mystery story in a sci-fi universe and this is exactly that. Nice.

Fantastic story and amazing artwork. The entire construction of this book is phenomenal as well. The pages have this crisp feel to them and the hardcover is of utmost quality. I bought this off a whim of the synopsis overview and I'm glad I did.

BKV has done it again. I don't think I have ever been disappointed by anything he has written. With wonderful art and an engaging story, this book has become one of my newest favorites.

Fue un comic muy famoso que solo era para web pero tenerlo en físico es para poder atesorarlo aunque la nube de rompa en el futuro

Otra gran obra de Brian K. Vaughan en una espectacular edición panorámica en tapa dura.

Excellent, à lire!!!

Initially this would have been a 1 star review, because the copy received was damaged at the corners. However, upon placing the replacement order I was not disappointed. Within 1 week I'm having a very good as new copy with no noticeable defects whatsoever. Thank You!

Brilliant read, highly recommend. Great ideas and a lot of fun in this futuristic noir thriller.