The Rural Noir of Who Killed Sarah Shaw

Content Warning: The graphic novel discussed includes adult nudity. It also involves a graphic murder depicted from the killer’s perspective, references and depiction of attempted self-harm, and multiple kinds of abuse, including to the titular teenager.

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It’s fascinating how many different ways Who Killed Sarah Shaw really made me rethink how a gritty crime story can be told. Adam Markiewicz and Frankee White’s latest work is as striking as it is unnerving. This isn’t edgelord nonsense, though it isn’t a story for the faint of heart either. Instead Who Killed Sarah Shaw is an uncompromising, deeply uncomfortable look at the twisted way rural life can become anything but the idyllic pleasantries of a Hallmark movie.

For investigators Jes and David, it’s another day on the job, trying to cobble together a sob story for their documentary. Yet what at first seems like a typical cold case instead reveals that the town of Hardground, Michigan is as seedy and unpleasant as any mobster haven. Every new interview peels back another unnerving layer, alternating between people praising and degrading Sarah Shaw, while vividly depicting how harsh and manipulative the world can be to a young girl. White unravels their story with a relentless scalpel comparable to the works of Brian K. Evenson.

The unrelentingly honest nature of this story is well done, despite its well-earned trigger warning. I might not have been around for the time period Sara Shaw grew up in, but I have family who did, and they endured all manner of shit people like she suffers. From emotional to physical harassment – and worse – this is what bad times in rural towns can look like. They don’t often end in murder, but the scars linger.

What will stick with readers, besides the twists and turns in the story, is how powerful the art is. Markiewicz’s work isn’t just in the line, but also the shading and lettering. He’s so good at capturing his subjects that it makes the hardest moments all the more distressing. Even in those handful of times where Who Killed Sarah Shaw lets up, the book remains very frank about what it’s depicting. Despite at times leaning on just a handful of stark lines and shading, the faces in particular feel photo-realistic. If Jes isn’t based on Aubrey Plaza, I’d be shocked, and the same for 50 Cent for David. It’s perfect, because they stick out like sore thumbs amid the “salt of the earth” interview subjects they’re dealing with.

I realize this is an odd thing to praise, but in contrast to The Last Ranger, Who Killed Sarah Shaw is actually pretty good at handling its brief moments of sexual humor between its two leads. They alternate between serious and flirty texts to one another. When they hit a rough patch and try to cut the tension on their own, it’s neither glamorous nor judging. Like everyone else, these are human beings laid bare, faults and all.

Jes is self-centered and self-serving as a defense mechanism, yet clearly wants success for not only herself but her partner in work and life. David is clearly more co-dependent than he wants to admit and afraid of getting in trouble, yet has a strong sense of justice beneath it all. They might start their journey just to keep their jobs and never quite feel closure for parsing what led to Sarah Shaw’s life being cut so short, but they’re both trying their best. In this story, that makes them more palatable than most of the cast.

That same attention to detail is found in all the scene work, the sound effect lettering, and the shading. It’s not Jim Lee levels of over-rendering, but you recognize the spaces: the under-budgeted gym of a low GPA high school, the knick-knack filled shelves of a burnt out retiree trying to fill a hole in her life, the gingerbread woodwork on 19th century buildings that are still standing. Even the simple use of contrast between gray, black, and white effectively communicates everything from the lighting to whether a window is open or not.

This is the kind of deft, careful, calculating creative mindset you need when handling a story like this. Far too often, it’s either troublingly glamorized or sensationalized. It’s all about the shock value. Not here. Who Killed Sarah Shaw isn’t some 13 Reasons Why cringe fest. That said, I do have to warn again that this one is not for the faint of heart.

Even the scene where the threat of radical self-harm is visibly depicted on the page is, remarkably, well handled. You can feel the horror in the characters at the mere thought of it. The horrors of a small town digging its selfish heels into a girl who just wanted to live her own life embodies so many real world tragedies.

White and Markiewicz have tapped into something powerful and potent. It’s a lesson in uncertainty, letting go, and finding meaning in not only our mistakes, but how we respond to the misdeeds of others. They don’t pretend to offer a solution to the world’s problems, but they do remind us that we can be better, and that little by little, we’re healing the scars of society, even if society rips those scars back open now and then.

With how bleak the world can feel right now, I don’t blame anyone for pulling up short. We’ve had enough people and spaces we thought were safe fail us. Yet if you can handle the bitter pill of the subject matter, Who Killed Sarah Shaw is an early contender as one of the best original graphic novels of the year. To say more would be to betray the carefully wound mystery at the heart of it all, but I’m certain that final page is going to stick with me for a long time – as heart-wrenching as it is a somehow perfect symbolic summation of Who Killed Sarah Shaw.

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With over ten of writing years in the industry, Elijah’s your guy for all things strange, obscure, and spooky in gaming. When not writing articles here or elsewhere, he’s tinkering away at indie games and fiction of his own.