My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies by Ed Brubaker

There is a point in the book where Ellie states that you can’t trust a junkie. Thus, as a reader, every time you ingest one of her thoughts, you truly can’t determine if she is being deceitful, or to whom she is being deceitful to. The title character, Ellie, has a running inner monologue where it appears she is not only deceiving the people around her, but deceiving herself as well. However, that is only the portion of the book that lies across the surface of the page. The book is clearly an engrossing tale with excellent pacing and a premise that unfolds in multiple layers. Yet, trying to go beyond a simple review will be difficult. I will try to describe the experience of reading this book without going too far into details, as there are particular plot twists that should remain hidden to future readers. At the very least the artwork and coloring are in harmony with the story. It is difficult to say if bringing in Jacob Phillips for coloring detracted from the artwork, as the pallet for the novel appears to be purposefully moody.

Ellie comes across as a cute, blond teenager most of the time, but there are particular pages where she seems a bit disproportional, or at the very least older than what she is written to be. The artwork, while not as captivating as Sean Phillips’s typical work during these collaborations, nevertheless grows on you with each passing panel. Thus, the uniqueness of the cover art, coupled with the creative team’s reputation, made this an easy purchase.

Luckily, not only is the title engrossing, but I’m also a big fan of Brubaker’s work. With a title like “My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies,” it was difficult to predict what direction the graphic novel would head in. But when Ellie lands in an upscale rehab clinic where nothing is what it appears to be… she’ll find another more dangerous romance, and find out how easily drugs and murder go hand-in-hand. Teenage Ellie has always had romantic ideas about drug addicts, those tragic artistic souls drawn to needles and pills have been an obsession since the death of her junkie mother ten years ago. Illustrated and Lettered by Sean Phillips

My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies by Ed Brubaker