Bog Bodies Review

Writer: Declan Shalvey / Artist: Gavin Fullerton / Image The macabre cover of Bog Bodies gave me the impression that it was some sort of horror graphic novel. And while it was ultimately a dark story that explored monstrosity, it was not in the context of something supernatural but rather an examination of the kindness and unkindness humans are capable of. Bog Bodies is a trod through depravity and empathy, a chilling tale of who we are in the dark. It’s a slow burn of a book, one that relishes in quick spikes of adrenaline which quickly settles into a slow unease that disrupts the sinus rhythm of your heart before quickly applying another jolt.

Bog Bodies opens with a news broadcast about Niamh “Neev” Madigan, a missing woman in Dublin, before introducing its other protagonist Killian, an Irish mobster who gets called to do an undisclosed late at night. Of course, the excursion to the countryside turns out just to be a pretense for Kaneo and his partner Gerry to kill Killian for a botched job. It’s only through luck that Killian is able to escape into the Dublin mountainside where luck would also have it, he meets Neev and the stories start in proper: two strangers trekking in the wilderness, trying to survive being hunted and haunted by their past. Stylistically, there are a lot of things that I appreciate about Bog Bodies. The transcription of the Irish accent, while causing me personally to take a second to process during my initial read, creates a distinct rhythm and he…