Christmas may be long gone at this point, but the Santa slasher remains at large in The Deviant #4, out this week. This series has expertly juggled the mystery of a slaying decades earlier with the exploration of homophobia and identity. At this point, we know the gay man locked up for a killing in 1973 didn’t do it, especially since a copycat killer appears to be on the loose in 2023.
Outside of the mystery is the further exploration of Michael and Derek’s relationship, which opens this issue. Set in 2019, writer James Tynion IV appears to be seeding something possibly dark and ominous in our main character, Michael. He seems fixated on two men dancing, and once Derek tries to break him from his fixation, he insists on going out in the cold to peruse the location where Jeffrey Dahmer took his victims. Throughout this series, artist Joshua Hixson has done well to capture Michael’s cold and almost unemotional personality, which feels even colder when we see how fixated he is on a killer like Dahmer. This scene properly sets up the cliffhanger page, which will surely shock many reading this series as intently as I do.
That scene leads us to the present, Milwaukee 2023. Michael is ironing out how he’ll write and draw his comic about the supposed killer, and again, Hixson draws Michael in a somewhat haunting way. His eyes are so emotionless and unnerving. He’s also wearing a kiddish shirt as if to suggest he’s very out of place. This scene further cements Michael’s obsession with the past.
Something is up with Michael.
Credit: Image
Peppered in this issue are very subtle yet powerful moments. One involves a hint that the killer in prison may escape. Another has Derek manically sharing too much, but his innocence makes you worry for him. In a shocking scene of violence, Michael has a vision of the Santa slayer gripping a man’s head covered in blood, which will shock the reader. This scene reminds us of the bigotry of the assailant, but also, the awful violence of the killer is somehow connected by outside sources.
An ongoing gripe is how it’s quite obvious this series will read even better when collected. While it’s fun to ponder where the story is going and its darker truths each month, it’s also sometimes frustrating to have to wait when a single issue may only progress things a smidge. This issue doesn’t have that problem as much due to the cliffhanger, but it’s still apparent in how it’s earning every moment and that can take time.
The character study is quite ample in every issue, and this week, we get more on the detective character. He’s been mostly absent or on the fringe, but this issue has him go directly to Michael’s, where he encounters a very nervous Derek. Tynion and Hixson do a great job pulling out small details about the detective, which help inform you about who he is. It’s an element of the series that feels very cinematic, as it’s efficient in getting details about these characters across.
The Deviant #4 is a great chapter in a series written with deftness and rendered with great care. The Deviant continues to be a great character study that plunges us into the darkness of the human soul.
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