123. Jack the Ripper


Jack the Ripper: Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889 by Rick Geary
Second in the Treasury of Victorian Murder series


Pages: 64
Finished: July 8, 2008
First Published: 1995
Genre: true crime, graphic novel
Rating: 3.5/5

Reason for Reading: next in the series. I also read a lot of books about Jack the Ripper.

First sentence:

A shocking murder on the east end: I'm told that the body of a woman was found this morning in a squalid alley-way of the whitechapel district ... mutilated in a most horrifying manner ~


Comments: Rick Geary has given us a first hand account of the Jack the Ripper case through the eyes of a contemporary but unknown British gentleman who kept a meticulous set of journals. In these journals the gentleman followed closely the news of the killings, while occasionally setting down his own opinion.

Mostly a typical accounting of the Ripper case, though the narrative voice is interesting. If you already know the case it isn't very intriguing but would probably make a good read for first exposure to the killings. The illustrations are amazing! Much better than in the first book of the series. This is such a brutal murder case and the illustrations are very dark and shadowy with many night time scenes. The intricate detail in each panel leads one to linger on each page before continuing. A decent showing in this series but not my favourite.

Comments

  1. I love Jack the Ripper books as well! I'll have to check this one out. Thanks for the review!

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  2. I don't know the "Jack the Ripper" story that well, so maybe I'll enjoy this more. In general, I'm looking forward to reading more in Geary's series - I just haven't been able to get to them yet.

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  3. Joy, you'll probably really like this then. I just couldn't pass up reading these, they are my favourite topic, Victorian Murder! Besides as graphic novels I can easily squeeze them in between bigger tomes.

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