Mr. Vertigo Reviews 131

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Mr. Vertigo Reviews 131

Who Killed Sarah Shaw? Collects artist Adam Markiewicz's excellent true crime story initially published on his Patreon while in progress.

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

I hope it is ok if I discuss spoilers with rot-13 encoding to avoid accidental reading.

I liked this story.  Contrary to my initial expectations, it is not quite a whodunnit.  Rather, it is a series of character examinations connected to either the events that led to Sarah's death or the reporters that have decided to investigate a death 36 years cold.

Also against my expectations, 

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jr unir irel srj uneq nafjref ng gur raq.
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A lot is hinted but not outright stated.  I like that one of the most solid facts established at the end is outright denied by one of the main characters and the story does not have to make a caption or a whole scene to put us back on track.

The character writing is particularly strong, including the very realistic dynamic among the two protagonists, who

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 riraghnyyl fhpprrq ng fbyivat n zheqre qverpgyl pbaarpgrq gb Fnenu'f, ohg abg Fnenu'f bja.
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We learn a lot about the character dynamics of people close to Sarah and also of

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gur arkg ubhfr arvtuobe jub syrrq gur gbja fvk zbaguf yngre naq vf trarenyyl nffhzrq gb unir orra gur xvyyre.
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Eventually, the couple uncovers the indiscretions of at least

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guerr qvssrerag gbjafcrbcyr,
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specifically

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Fnenu'f sngure; ure cerfhzrq xvyyre; naq ure pbnpu.
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Also, even though some of the main characters seem to sincerely doubt it, it is all but certain that 

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Fnenu jnf certanag bs ure zneevrq arvtuobe'f puvyq naq jnf xvyyrq va beqre gb nibvq gur fpnaqny, qrfcvgr pregnvagvrf gb gur pbagenel sebz uvf jvsr naq ure sngure.
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It is a difficult trick to pull off in writing, and a testament to Frankee White's skill.  He writes realistically conflicted, even all-out delusional people well.  He also leaves quite a few peripherical mysteries unsolved.  I really like White's ability to write realistically flawed people and the difficult situations that their flaws can enable.

There are also several (almost too many) unsolved peripheral mysteries, or at least open questions.

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Jnf Zngg Erasebj'f qrngu (fubja va cntr fvkgl) nppvqragny, be jnf vg vagragvbany? Gvssnal Fybhprx nyy ohg nqzvgf univat n pyrne ernfba, rira vs gung, gbb, znl unir orra jvfushy guvaxvat sebz ure. Trbetr Uvttvaf unq n fvzvyne zbgvir, naq unf irel fhfcrpg orunivbe nyy guebhtu gur fgbel, qbja gb pynvzvat abg gb unir sbhaq gur xavsr gung jnfa'g rira uvqqra ng gung cbvag.

Vg vf irel gryyvat gung Gvssnal znxrf n cbvag bs zragvbavat Trbetr naq arire qbrf nalguvat jvgu gung, abg rira gbhpuvat ba jurgure Trbetr unq nal srryvatf sbe Fnenu (nygubhtu gur neg znxrf gung fbzrjung pyrne), juvyr Trbetr, jub raqrq hc nf n ynj rasbeprzrag bssvpre, unf n irel uneq gvzr nggrzcgvat gb uvqr rvgure uvf zbgvingvbaf be uvf zbfg fhfcrpg orunivbe.
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Our detectives are very fallible, even at their core mission.

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Wbpryla'f anzr gnt vf pyrneyl fubja va cntr fvkgl-guerr, ohg vg gnxrf nobhg n unys qbmra cntrf bs pbairefngvba sbe Qnir gb nppvqragnyyl ernyvmr (ng na njxjneq zbzrag) gung fur jnf zragvbarq ol gur pbnpu cerivbhfyl.

Gur bar pevzr gung gurl fbyir vf abg rira gurve svaqvat, ohg engure n pbasrffvba sebz ure sngure, jub vf pyrneyl fubja gb or urnivyl va qravny. Cyragl bs crbcyr va Uneqtebhaq, Zvpuvtna ner va qravny naq funcr gurve yvirf gb cebgrpg gur bowrpgf bs gurve qravnyf.
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This one-shot makes me want to follow more from Frankee White. The black-and-white pencils by Adam Markiewicz are also superb, showing a good balance of emotional expressions, detail and storytelling.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I'm sorry it took so long to get back to this thread. I agree that the ending did not tie everything up neatly, but it certainly solved many mysteries. Technically the title was not justified, but I'm with  Dave the photographer in thinking that they pretty much had the answer, even if they did not find hard proof.

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

I loved that trait of the story.  It is human-like, not steelclad.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

This is the first time I encountered ROT-13 encoding. I found an online decoder, so I will be back later for further discussion. Thank you for your detailed response!

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

You're welcome.

If you want to use it, I have set up a converter/deconverter at https://dantas.com/rot13/rot13.htm