“Bury the Lede” is the first comic written by Gaby Dunn, illustrated by Clair Roe. The book follows Madison, an intern at the Boston Lede as she unwinds the tangled mystery of why one woman is being locked up for a crime that she did not commit. Is “Bury the Lede” able to satisfyingly untangle the web of mystery it sets up? Read on to find out.
Written by Gaby Dunn
Illustrated by Claire Roe
Colored by Miquel Muerto
Lettered by Mike Fiorentino
Cub reporter Madison Jackson is young, scrappy, and hungry to prove that she deserves her coveted college internship at the premiere newspaper in town, The Boston Lede, so when her police scanner mentions a brutal murder tied to the prominent Boston Kennedys, Madison races to the crime scene, looking for the scoop of the century. What she finds instead is the woman who’ll change her life forever: Dahlia Kennedy, celebrity socialite, now widow, covered in gore and the prime suspect in the murder of her husband and child. When Dahlia refuses to talk to anyone but Madison, they begin a dangerous game of cat and mouse that leads the young journalist down a twisted path. From Gaby Dunn (Bad with Money, I Hate Everyone But You) and Claire Roe (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Welcome Back) comes an all-new original graphic novel about the thrill of the chase and the dangers of going toe-to-toe with a potential killer.
At the heart of any mystery is tension. Really, this is true of almost any story, but in mysteries it’s even more so. Whether it is the interpersonal tension in noir stories, or the tension of whether the main character will be able to solve a mystery in whodunits, tension is the key to keeping a mystery alive. Without tension, a mystery just becomes a list of facts that eventually tie together in a (hopefully) satisfying bow.
“Bury the Lede” is not entirely without tension, but it is something that the story is severely lacking. Yes, the intricacies of the plot are important, and “Bury the Lede” does an okay job creating the twists and turns of a case slowly pieces itself together. But what it lacks is driving force through the story. There’s no real tension about whether Madison, the main character, an intern at the fictional paper the Boston Lede will solve the story.
Let me back up for a second. “Bury the Lede” follows Madison after she reports on a wealthy socialite’s, Dahlia Kennedy’s murder of her husband. After Dahlia is brought in by the police, she refused to talk to anyone but Madison. In these conversations, Dahlia starts giving Madison cryptic clue to unravel a mystery that is at the heart of Boston.
It’s a bit reductive to sum up a story by referencing two pieces of pop culture, but I think it’s the easiest way to get at what exactly “Bury the Lede” is. It’s Spotlight by way of Silence of the Lambs. Which would not necessarily be a bad thing. Those are two great movies, Spotlight especially shows how interesting a simple story about reporters investigating a big story can be. But, at the heart of Spotlight, there is also the tension of whether or not this is a story worth breaking. Is it worth taking on the catholic church? And why haven’t people gone after a story this big before?
“Bury the Lede” doesn’t really create any of these stakes. There is not an institutional stake for the character. There’s no real tension about the public figure she is beginning to uncover dirt about. And while it does make a go at giving the story personal stakes by making Madison’s brother someone that will be directly affected by her reporting, it never feels like that actually sticks. Sure, her reporting might hurt him, but we never get to actually feel that tension.
Perhaps more disappointing than the lack of tension on a character level is the lack of tension on a plot level. In a story that paints itself as a mystery, it’s important that everything comes together. The way a mystery is solved, or in some cases, isn’t solved, is probably the most important part of the story. A lot can be forgiven if, by the end, the story comes together in a satisfying bow. “Bury the Lede” meanders through its plot, huge revelations simply appearing and moving to the next one. There is no sense of urgency, nothing that pulls the story along. And, the main character never does any detective work. All the information is just handed to her. For a genre that should be built on tension, “Bury the Lede” has almost none.
Continued belowThis is a lack of tension that carries itself into the art as well. “Bury the Lede” is a very pretty book. Claire Roe’s art is expressive, her character feel alive on the page, and the colors by Miquel Muerto bring a beautiful texture to the world. The layouts of each page is interesting as well, and the team does a good job keeping a story that is mostly people standing around talking feeling dynamic.
However, the story also breezes past. The art is dynamic, but it never feels like it’s given the room to fully breathe. The moments where some sort of tension could have been created are blown by to keep the story moving at a steady clip. The confrontation between Madison and her brother, what feels like was supposed to be the main point of tension in the story, is wrapped up in one page, without even giving Madison a moment to reflect.
“Bury the Lede” has a lot going for it. Its premise is interesting, the art is well done, and it has really wonderful representation. But, at a story level, “Bury the Lede” just falls short. It breezes by any tension that might be created and ends up leaving a story that should be really interesting as a pretty bland experience.
