Warning: Contains minor spoilers for The Deviant #8!
The perfect horror read from Halloween to the holidays comes from Image comicsLike the bone chilling miniseries The Deviant, a creepy Christmas horror story with gorgeous and occasionally gruesome art, leads to a suspenseful and potentially devastating finale. The series features a killer dressed as Santa and the mysteries surrounding his supposed copycat killer as the body count rises again.
The deviant #8 – written by James Tynion IV, with art by Joshua Hixson – is the final issue of the series, which has disturbed and terrified fans from page one of its debut issue. Setting up a brutal bloodbath in its final installment, The deviant Seems poised to deliver a satisfying finale, one that’s as emotional as it is eerie.
Fittingly, the hunt for the Christmas-themed killer will reach its climax just in time for this year’s holiday season. Blending crime thriller, social commentary and Santa slasher, The deviant is a bold and multi-faceted horror tale.
“The Deviant” depicts a serial killer Santa who is seriously sadistic and scary
The deviant #8 – Written by James Tynion IV; Art & Color by Joshua Hixson; Letters from Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Dubbed the eponymous “Deviant” after his 1973 murder, The twisted serial killer dressed in a Santa Claus suit creates gruesome and macabre Christmas scenes with the bodies of his victims. Film, television and even comics have had their fair share of killer depictions of Santas in the past, with Tales from the Crypt And Silent night, deadly night Offering some of the most iconic iterations. Tynion and Hixson Deviant Santa is the most terrifying of them all, with his bloody ax-wielding prowess and sadistic staging of the bodies that bring true malevolent horror. To contrast with his jolly Christmas costume.
The main scary factor of The deviant is the mystery of the killer’s identity.
Hixson’s stunning art for the series is most effectively chilling when the deviant lurks, with his blank stare, tall lanky figure and creepy mask adding to his menacing disposition. The main scary factor of The deviant is the mystery of the killer’s identity. A man named Randall Olsen is locked up for the murders, and the police suspect that the bodies found decades later are the work of a copycat. However, the main character of the series, Michael – the primary suspect in the copycat killings – is convinced that Randall is innocent, believing that the original killer is still out there.
The horror of the deviant ranges from evil slasher terror to grounded emotional dread
The year’s most deeply resonant horror series
The scary killer of the series means that it would absolutely work strictly as a slasher story, however The deviant is also able to explore the psychology of its main players with real emotional gravitas. Queer identity is a dominant aspect of the series, with many of the main characters grappling with issues of sexuality, loneliness and the very real terror of homophobia. With the main couple, accused and convicted murderer, and detective working on the case all being queer characters, this disturbing story of the crime illustrates how unfortunately easy it is for non-heteronormative people to be painted as evil or deviant.
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Joining the ranks of other famous LGBTQIA+ horror and holiday horror, The deviant Tells a funny Christmas story that has brutal scares but also a serious amount of horror and tragedy. This is not to say that it is an inherently sad read, but the true evil of the series is not only in its creepy Santa killer and highlights just how terrifying it can be to be different in a world that is not usually. Answer well to this. Although there are moments of love and warmth between its characters, the world of The deviant Can get cold and cruel.
The Deviant is shaping up to be an all-time classic horror comic (if it sticks the landing).
The deviant #9 – Final issue available November 13th from Image Comics
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Brilliant comic on the shelves that has remained consistently strong throughout its entire run, Tynion and Hixson’s series may be one of the best picture comics around, and a true horror classic in the making. The deviant spans generations, with stories spanning fifty years, and has the potential to become a regularly revisited read around the holidays for horror fans. As the ninth and final issue of the series is fast approaching, the grand finale yet The Deviant #8The cliffhanger could cement the miniseries’ status as a standout horror comic and its terrifying killer as a true icon of the genre.
Going beyond the Santa slasher to a gritty crime thriller with brutally honest commentary on social issues that unpacks the horrors of the real world, The deviant Success gets under its reader’s skin.
Although killer Santas seem to be in fashion this spooky season, with terrifyingThe Clown’s Art Also Doing Christmas Cosplay In the franchise’s new 2024 entry, Tynion and Hixson’s comic miniseries offers a bold brand of horror that’s a refreshing addition to this year’s horror landscape. Going beyond the Santa slasher to a gritty crime thriller with brutally honest commentary on social issues that unpacks the horrors of the real world, The deviant Success gets under its reader’s skin. The deviant Makes its bloody mark as one of Image comics‘ Best offerings of 2024, and a remarkable horror story overall.
The deviant #8 is available now from Image Comics.