Review by Karl Verhoven

There was no way a faithful graphic novel adaptation of David Simon’s 646 page Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets was going to contracted to a single graphic novel, and Philippe Squarzoni is certainly faithful. Compare the dialogue on the opening spread to page 178 and 179 of the book and it’s exact. So is the conversation on the following spread. However, the placement opening this book is one of very few changes Squarzoni makes, not following Simon’s chronology, but tying events together for a smoother read.

Chapter three here is one of the book’s best known sequences, as Simon describes what it’s like to be interrogated in the Box. Mesmerisingly played on the TV series by Andre Braugher as detective Frank Pembleton, it explains how it feels to be a suspect. “The detective assures you he has informed you of these rights because he wants you to be protected”, writes Simon. “Nothing concerns him more than giving you every possible assistance in this very stressful and confusing moment in your life”. The original description is beautifully eloquent and Squarzoni also delivers the scene masterfully, closing in on faces as the detective prompts doubt and uncertainty in the suspect. The remainder of the chapter is equally compelling in revealing other methods used to ensure a confession.

For all the horrific crimes detailed from start to finish, Homicide is an amalgamation of character studies. Simon delivers the personalities so exactly, and Squarzoni resists the temptation to add by drawing the detectives with an assortment of expressions. They remain impassive throughout, giving nothing away, their thoughts restricted to the narrative captions. Contrary to the public perception of police detectives caring little, these are diligent men (no women then) who deserve your respect.

As with Part One, Squarzoni delivers a mass of information, personalities and locations with precision, always mindful of the original book. Like that, it’s a powerful evocation of time and place, and of the pressures everyone is under, never mind processing the horror of so frequently confronting death in appalling circumstances.

The constant frustration of unsolved cases and the imperative to clear them are emphasised throughout both volumes. It nevertheless bears noting that as this follows real cases, Homicide isn’t like a novel or TV show where everything is tied up neatly by the end. There are examples of diligent deduction paying off, and some strokes of luck, but Squarzoni omits Simon’s epilogue following up on cases and people after his year shadowing the Baltimore police. The distressing case of Latonya Wallace remains unsolved to this day.