For decades slashers have been an important part of modern horror. They can be dangerous maniacs or supernaturally-powered psychopaths, as horror fans seem to have a soft spot for stories about relentless killers, as the popularity of franchises like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street or Scream seems to attest. Most comic books about slashers are movie or TV spinoffs, but there are original ideas too, and Maniac of New York is a perfect example.
For decades, slashers have been an important part of modern horror. They can be dangerous maniacs or supernaturally-powered psycopaths, as horror fans seem to have a soft spot for stories about unrelentless killers, as the popularity of franchises like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street or Scream seems to attest. Most comic books about slashers are movie or TV spinoffs, but there are original ideas too, and Maniac of New York is a perfect example.
Maniac of New York is a creation of Elliot Kalan, a podcaster and television writer mostly known for his work on TV, as former head writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and a lead writer on Netflix's revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000. His partners on this project are talented Italian artist Andrea Mutti, famous for his work in Bonelli's Nathan Never series as well as a handful of projects for Marvel, DC, IDW and other publishers, and veteran letterer Taylor Esposito.
The story debuted last year with a five-issue miniseries published by Aftershock Comics. The series follows a ruthless serial killer thst slaughtered almost eighty persons during Times Square's traditional New Year's party. Four years after the incident the killer, christened by the media as "Harry the Maniac", is still at large, and his seemingly random attacks have practically become a normal part of life for new yorkers.
It's an election's year and the ongoing rivalry between the city's mayor and the governor prevents an organized response from the authorities, and every police precint seems to be content with the situation as long as the next attack occurs outside of their respective jurisdictions. What's more, homicide detectives use Harry's existence as an excuse to file away unsolved cases, blaming the Maniac even when the evidence points in other directions.
A couple of years back the mayor formed a special task force to follow the case, but it was just a public relations move and no one is really trying to stop the murderer, at least until the arrival of Detective Gina Greene, the new head of the task force, who has personal reasons for wanting to catch Harry. When she finds out that her job post is a farce, she turns to Detective Zelda Pettibone for support.
Hated by her peers for refusing to cover up an incident involving her old partner, Pettibone was the last NYPD officer to have a lead on Harry. A cynic with a bad attitude and a drinking problem, she's convinced that Harry represents some sort of divine punishment against the city and there's no way to stop him, but reluctantly agrees to help out the idealistic Greene and together they try to navigate the neglicence of their bosses.
One could make a case of Maniac of New York as simply being Kalan's love letter to slasher stories, complete with tributes and references to any number of films, but the author takes the story further by building a complex and multilayered narrative with various levels of meaning. He also honored one of horror's most revered traditions by infusing his story with a healthy dose of social commentary and a biting critic of Americans' response to shootings and other avoidable tragedies.
Kalan doesn't pull any punches, and even when all of his characters are fictional, it is quite obvious than a few of them, including the Mayor, the Governor, a Congressman and a TV personality, are stand-ins for real persons, so reading about their reactions and responses to a tragic attack feels like watching the news cycle after any real life violent tragedy in recent years, which adds a powerful and unexpected emotional punch to the story.
Mutti's art is a great fit for Kalan's story. His clean linework and muted color palette, mostly composed of cold hues, help create a moody atmosphere, and his striking use of red whenever violence erupts and blood starts running becomes a nifty narrative tool that affects the overall mood. He uses sparse details to great effect as most locations are easily identifiable, and his "acting" skills add to the personality of every character through a good range of facial expressions.
Kalan's anger towards the negligence, stupidity and incompetence of authorities is palpable, but he uses dark humor to avoid his story taking a depressing turn. He writes with a sense of purpose and makes it easy for the reader to identify or sympathize with both his protagonists, who most often than not are the most rational characters in the story, as well as the only ones seemingly capable of showing human emotions.
The story was designed to be told as a series of miniseries. A few months ago a second miniseries, Maniac of New York: The Bronx is Burning, was completed, offering a partial conclusion to the story, and a third arc/miniseries, Maniac of New York: Don't Call It a Comeback, has already been announced. The first two miniseries are also available as TPB collections, so it's fairly easy to hunt them down and get up to date with the story.
Maniac of New York might not be suited for everyone's tastes, but if you're a fan of horror, specially of the slasher variety, you owe it to yourself to check out this gory and entertaining series. Even if horror is not your thing, if you enjoy social satire and have no quandaries about the graphic depiction of violence, it might be worth your time to give it a try. Who knows? Maybe you'll find out horror might have something for you after all.
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