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What an intense, what a brilliant read James Tynion IV and Joshua Hixson’s The Deviant is. If this comic series doesn’t win any award at the next Eisner, then I don’t know what will.
As I’ve mentioned (at least once) before, I’m really a sensitive, not to say wimpy reader who doesn’t normally get started on realistic, subcutaneous and psychological horror and thrillers. But with The Deviant, I can’t stop.
There are many reasons that prevent me from doing so.
First and foremost, the irresistible, intangible pull of this story.
Tynion IV delivers a story so precisely written that no word is too much, each one carefully chosen and enriched with many words between the lines.
His characters are tangible.
You can feel what is going on inside Michael - or at least you think you can in parts -, this melancholic, wistful person, when he tries to find meaning. In the events of his life, his loves, his passions and fascinations, and most of all the Deviant Killer.
You can feel the deep bond between Michael and his partner just as much as between him and the killer.
You can sense this uncanny calm and composure in the conversations between Michael and the Deviant Killer.
Yes, this eerie calm is probably the basic characteristic of this comic.
You waver between, walk a fine line between cozy, homely relaxation and deep tension and fear of everything that could be lurking behind the next page.
And it turns out, there is something lurking, something unexpected…
And then there is Joshua Hixson, who realizes all of this visually. The trembling calm, the disturbing images, as well as the empathy-inducing moments, the emotions between the lines that only need a few strokes to show on the faces and the gestures of the protagonists.
I’m glad we’re only at issue #4 of this melancholically touching and frighteningly fascinating, or fascinatingly frightening comic book.
Because, inexplicably, I want to stay with what Tynion and Hixson are serving us here for an even longer time.
(You can subscribe to this series at Walt's Comic Shop through Manage Comics. Simply click HERE).
