Torso [Paperback]

Brian Michael Bendis (Author), Marc Andreyko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Cleveland: 1935. Eliot Ness, fresh from his legendary Chicago triumph over Al Capone and associates, set his sights on Cleveland and went on a crusade that matched, and sometimes even surpassed, his past accomplishments. Dismembered body parts have started washing up in a concentrated area of Lake Erie Sound. Their headless torsos have left no clues to their identity or the reason for death. Elliot Ness and his colorful gang of "The Unknowns" chased this killer through the underbelly of Cleveland for years. As far as the public was concerned he was never captured. But what really happened is even more shocking. This award-winning collection includes a historic photo essay of the actual murders. Torso was nominated for an International Horror Guild award for best graphic story and for 3 International Eagle Awards.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Image Comics (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582401748
• ISBN-13: 978-1582401744
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Michael Bendis is an award winning comics creator and one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For the last eleven years, Brian's books have consistently sat on the top of the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel's popular AVENGERS franchise by writing every issue of the NEW AVENGERS plus debuting the hit books MIGHTY AVENGERS and DARK AVENGERS along with the wildly successful 'event' projects HOUSE OF M, SECRET WAR, SECRET INVASION, and SIEGE.
This summer will see the blockbuster new line-ups for AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS.
Other recent projects include the groundbreaking SPIDER-WOMAN MOTION COMIC, that debuted number one on iTunes TV sales chart and the New York Times best selling HALO graphic novel.
Brian is one of the premiere architects of Marvel comic's Ultimate line of comics. A line of comics specifically created for the new generation of comics reader. He has written every issue of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN since it's best selling launch in 1999, and has also written ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN, MARVEL TEAM UP, ORIGIN, SIX and the ENEMY trilogy.
He is creator of the JINX line of crime comics published by image comics. This line has spawned the graphic novels GOLDFISH, FIRE, JINX, TORSO (w/ Marc Andreyko) and TOTAL SELL OUT.
Brian's other projects include the Eisner award winning "POWERS" (w/Mike Oeming) from Marvel's creator owned imprint ICON, and the Hollywood tell all "FORTUNE AND GLORY'. Entertainment Weekly gave both projects an "A." SONY and FX networks are currently developing POWERS for series with Brian as exec producer.
Brian is currently adapting his spy graphic novel FIRE for Universal Pictures as a starring vehicle for Zac Efron.
Brian is a member of Marvel studios creative committee, which consults on their numerous ongoing film projects. He has consulted on IRON-MAN and IRON MAN 2 and is currently consulting on THE FIRST AVENGERS: CAPTAIN AMERICA, THOR and THE AVENGERS
Brian has won five prestigious EISNER awards, including 'Best Writer of the year' two years in a row. He has also won over two dozen Wizard comic awards. Brian is the recipient of the Cleveland Press 'Excellence in Journalism' Award and was named "Best Writer of the Year." by Wizard Magazine and Comic Buyer's Guide for three consecutive years.
He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Alisa, his gorgeous daughters Olivia and Sabrina and his dogs Lucky, Max and Buster.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crime does not pay, July 7, 2002

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Torso (Paperback)

"Torso" is a great comic. Not being a huge fan of crime-fiction myself, I gave it a try based on Bendis's excellent work on the comic series "Powers." Also, I liked the idea of a real-life "super-hero" in Eliot Ness pitched against a real-life "super-villain" in the form of the Torso serial killer.

Like Alan Moore's "From Hell," Bendis took a real, unresolved case and weaved a drama around facts. His story-telling is realistic and gritty, and does not contain Moore's flights of fancy. I would have liked to have seen an appendix, separating the drama from the known facts, and why Bendis choose his particular culprit.

The art is not a strong initial attractor, but after reading a few pages it starts to flow. The mix of photos and drawings is effective.

This is really strong stuff, and I recommend it to comic fans and crime-fiction fans alike.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1930s Serial Killer Stalks Cleveland, December 15, 2005

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Torso (Paperback)

I'm not usually that interested in serial killers, be they real or fictional, but I'll check out almost any graphic novel, and so I picked this up from the library recently. The book is a fictional recasting of the grisly "Torso Killer" murders that took place in Cleveland roughly between 1935-39. One aspect that makes it a touch more interesting is the involvement of Elliot Ness, fresh from his legendary "Untouchables"-leading, Capone-busting successes in Chicago. After the end of Prohibition, Ness left the G-men and was hired in 1935 by the city of Cleveland as Director of Public Safety. This coincided almost exactly with the emergence of a gruesome serial killer who decapitated and often dismembered his victims, leaving most of the remains in or near Lake Erie Sound. (Note: Contrary to what some reviewers have written, this was hardly the first serial killer in America. The first reliably documented serial killer operated in the 1890s in Chicago and was the subject of a very entertaining recent book, Devil in the White Castle.)

The story documents the initial investigation by a pair of tough-talking police detectives while Ness is busy purging the police department of corrupt cops. However, as the corpses start mounting up, the mayor forces Ness to take charge of the Torso case. The bulk of the book is then a pretty straightforward police procedural, as Ness and the lead detectives pursue various angles. The most notable of these is Ness' controversial decision to clear out a large shantytown of unemployed people and burn it to the ground in order to deny the killer an easy target population. The investigation is handled pretty well, with good pacing and great dialogue peppered with plenty of period slang. Personal lives are woven in, somewhat less successfully, as Ness' marriage crumbles and one of the detectives reveals a shocking secret. These subplots feel kind of tacked on and underwritten. The climax falters a little bit as well, as the writers deviate slightly from reality in order to create an action-packed finale which never happened. However, the real suspect (Dr. Francis E. Sweeney) was interrogated by Ness, and was protected by political family, and did more or less elude justice as the book depicts.

The artwork is pretty interesting, incorporating period photographs and documents into the bold black and white artwork. Some of the layouts and paneling are quite creatively done (especially the interrogation sequence), although one section which requires turning the book sideways for several spreads is really awkward and annoying. A section at the end provides additional original photos and documents relating to the case, which are interesting, but need more context. The book really needs a few pages where it is explained what is real and what the writer invented or rearranged (for example, in real life, the postcards taunting Ness weren't sent until after the killings stopped), and what happened to Ness and the suspect and detectives over the rest of their lives. Since this series came out, a large number of original police files were discovered following the death of one of the lead detectives and several other works have appeared, including two books (In the Wake of the Butcher: Cleveland's Torso Murders and Torso: Eliot Ness and the Search for a Psychopathic Killer) and a documentary (The Fourteenth Victim - Eliot Ness and the Torso Murder). Overall, well worth checking out.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Image grows-up, March 5, 2002

By 

C. D. Murphy (Natick, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Torso (Paperback)

I've read a few Bendis titles in the past and have been just okay with them. I ran across this one at the library and decided to give it a try. Absolutely stunning. This guy shouldn't waste his time with hero comics because when he's just okay with them. While getting his hands around historical crime, he just explodes into someone like a Caleb could only hope to be. This was on level with "From Hell" in the graphic world and Elroy's "Black Dahlia" in non-graphic, but lacking some of their depth. Well researched and well presented. It's a story I had never heard of and will definitely read more about in the future.

The presentation, which is something I rarely comment on in a graphic book, was unbelelievable. I loved the mixture of drawing with old photography. I was impressed with the authentic dialogue based on periodic idiomatic expressions. And the wording, I just came away so impressed with it. The way it was connected to visually cue your eyes to the graphics. And how it was always easy to follow the structure due to this, even though it was anything but the linear paneling we are used to with comics. One moment that is just spectacular is an interrogation of a potential suspect by Eliot Ness and how the format swirls around two pages leading into a metaphorical abyss. And you'll have to read a little more to understand that abyss comment.

Loved the ending! Loved the ending! Loved the ending! It may not meet the expectations of those that demand conclusion, but there was something so fundamental about the nature of power there that I just loved it.

Top 5 all time Graphic Novel. And who can ever compete with Sandman, so let's be real and say Top 4;)