A pretty decent graphic novel! A peep show dancer named Roxy ends up with a VHS of a murder and her life is in jeopardy because of it! Not incredibly original, but the art is good, and the story moves at a quick, crisp pace! And it definitely has the right vibe of a Hard Case Crime book! I'm glad that I gave it a read! ( )

The full collected mini series of Peepland is now available in Graphic Novel format.

I have read a number of Graphics lately, but Peepland is by far my favorite of the bunch. The imagery is solid, dark, and centric to the 80's post-punk attitude and styling. Pop culture references, music, heavy dependency on tape media, no cell phones but at least one beeper was witnessed. A tape being eaten by a VHS machine.. Ahh the nostalgia.

The text and story in Peepland was pretty amazing. It dabbles in the dark background of sex workers, but branches off to poverty, racial tensions, and features a character who is a prominent NYC realestate mogul (not named Trump, but sure reminds of him).

Set in Times Square, 1986, Peep follows an erotic dancer who witnesses some of the last living moments for a sleezy patron, Dick Durbin. Sweating and afraid, Dick bursts into Roxanne Bell's showroom booth and hides a VHS tape inside a chair cushion. He leaves then gets pushed infront of a train.

What was on the tape? Just Durbin and random women on the street which deny his advances. Just one woman who is visiting NYC for the first time and decides to show her boobs to a stranger to be daring for once in her life. Just the horrified look on her face as his camera focuses in on a young woman, a prep school student in the background being assaulted and murdered. Just a reason to murder a lot more people in a cover up .

This Hard Case Crime release is highly suggested. Clocking in at 121 pages (not counting author after thoughts), every page is enjoyable.

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I must disclose, much as a man in a peepshow must insert coins to enjoy the view, that this Graphic Novel was provided for review purposes by the Publisher. If it was crap, I would tell you, but as a general rule, if it were crap I wouldn't spend time finishing nor reviewing.

I did finish though, so it was good. Finishing in context of a peep show review. Heh. ( )