One fully automated New York City subway train full of dead bodies. Two women trying to stop a killer. And three survivors in what could be the last moments of their lives. By writer Elliott Kalan, artist and colorist Andrea Mutti and letterer Taylor Esposito, it’s Maniac of New York #3 and 4.
Will Nevin: Justin, I’m going to ask what is probably the hardest question I have ever posed to you: What’s your favorite slasher flick, and why? Try to limit your response to under 1,000 words since we’re covering two issues here.
Justin Partridge: Oh wow, that’s a big question. As I have stated a few times here, I am a BIG Jason Voorhees Person. That’s part of what really drew me to Maniac of New York in the first place; it’s pretty clear inspiration drawn from Pamela Voorhees’ Baby Boy. In terms of my horror “fandom,” that’s probably my favorite franchise (second to Hellraiser), but I have a real appreciation for those “slasher icons” like Leatherface, Freddy and The Shape (AKA Michael Myers). But in considering “slashers” as a full genre, the answer is far more comprehensive.
Stuff like Madman, Deep Red and Pieces are comfortable favorites I find myself revisiting. And recently I was blown away by efforts like Knife+Heart, the Happy Death Day franchise and You’re Next (which I think I saw about four times in theaters and contains one of the gnarliest/funniest kills I think I’ve seen in a modern slasher to date). I also REALLY love the new Halloween reboot, The Collector films and American Mary, but those are just personal favorites I wanted to mention.
There now, that’s only about 200 words! Pretty restrained, huh?!
Will: I am impressed out of my asshole at your restraint there, hoss. I asked that because I think both Maniac #3 and 4 are the most slasher-y issues to date in the series in that 1) We’ve already established the fantastic satirical premise of “What if we treated a Jason-type serial killing monster like we treat gun violence and/or coronavirus?” and 2) These are just some rippin’ balls-first action and murder and mayhem pages. To be clear, I’m not making a value judgment here; I loved these issues and thought they were great. But they’re also certainly different from the first two. J-Man, what did you think of this overall?
Justin: NO I ABSOLUTELY AGREE!
We’ve not only traded the fairly open setting of the city for the immensely cramped “super-train” teased in the opening, but writer Elliott Kalan has REALLY turned full bore into this being a slasher now. He’s set the table, he’s positioned the pieces, so now all he’s gotta do is start slicing THEM all to bits.
It’s all very exciting.
Will: I knew that restraint wouldn’t last long.
When Harry Met Justin and Will
Will: Since we have so much of the aforementioned balls-first action, we see a lot of Harry doing his thing here, and I had a few notes I wanted to bring up. First, his “Harr” and “Hurr” vocalizations are just the best — and I guess that’s how he got his name? Wouldn’t think he’d leave too many survivors, but no one is perfect. Second, his weapon — something like a machete with two giant saw teeth — is positively wicked. I guess the point here is that maybe I’m starting to fall for this big dumb murder monster? What do you think is the natural audience relationship with a Jason/mostly silent killer type, and how do you see Harry in this series so far?
Justin: Another tremendous question, my friend.
I think on the surface, slasher archetypes like Jason and now Harry really appeal directly to our reptilian brains. There is something just so instantly off-putting (and not-so-secretly appealing, too) about just an impressively LARGE person. When you add to that the seemingly singular drive toward violence and the implacability of their silence, you genuinely just never know what to expect from these types of characters.
The Friday the 13th movies in particular really play with this dynamic. Sometimes Jason is like a curious hulk, and the next he’s folding freshly frisky teens up in cots and punching the heads off people. Obviously he starts to lose a bit of that mystique once the movies start to delve more and more into his backstory, another problem that later plagues the pre-reboot Halloween movies, but I think this series has largely avoided that pitfall, right?
I mean, we don’t know too terribly much about Harry aside from a few scant details, and that plays heavily into the book’s take on him as a “force of nature” or even possibly some kind of vengeful force that’s “balancing the scales” of humanity, one swing of the saw-chete at a time. What do you think, Will?
Will: Answering that question seems to be where we’re going in the conclusion, and pacing wise, that’s a real interesting spot to get into the mythos of this guy as we’re getting ready to say goodbye. But — as we’ll get into here in a bit — I sure hope this is not our penultimate date with Harry.
The Blood and the Gore and the Pretty Reflections
Will: I thought Andrea Mutti as both an artist and a colorist had some real moments to shine in issue #3, including (but not limited to) the buckets upon buckets of blood on the train (enough so that they allowed for reflections in an incredible detail), the scene where Gina sarcastically smears blood on the “No Smoking” sign and the final page where I was able to make out an actual fingerprint (presumably Mutti’s!) on Harry’s nightmare machete. In short, Justinius, I don’t think we’ve been talking enough about how great this art is. Let’s start philosophically with this: How do you like the overall coloring approach — the muted tones for everything but blood? And then feel free to geek out over anything else I brought up.
Justin: GIALLO BLOOD, MY FRIEND! It’s truly delightful.
But you are absolutely right, we haven’t talked nearly enough about just how FREAKING GOOD Maniac of New York looks, and these two issues in particular are precisely the right time to call attention to it.
You mentioned the intentionality of Mutti’s coloring, which has been a real treat from issue to issue, but also the blocking of the whole thing so far has been so good. Moments like the scrubbing out of the smoking sign and another in these two where you see the actual physical toll it’s taking on the characters to keep moving up and down the train’s compartments. You can just absolutely tell that a lot of this stuff has just been discovered in the layout process.
Like, I am sure the scripts to these issues are just as intentional (as the team has been talking openly about how horror inspired the series), but that sort of visual detail just gives the book a whole charm and life all its own. It’s something that you can only get in comics, and it’s just a thrill.
I would also go so far as to say that this series could finally give us a horror series that visually shines beyond the pulp and cheesecake that is usually associated with the genre. Meaning, horror always gets this bad rep as a “shallow” genre or one that’s too reliant on shocks and gore to move books. While there certainly are examples of that throughout the direct market, books like Maniac and some of the other AfterShock efforts have really gone beyond themselves to look and read like more than the sum of their parts.
Sure, you could look at this book and dismiss it as shlock, but I think that would be your loss for sure, as it’s been that AND a whole lot more. Both on the script and visual levels. Would you agree, Will?
Will: Anyone not reading this book — especially any fans of slashers or satire (but, oddly enough, not satirical slashers — I think this thing has played itself straight as hell on the page) — is doing themselves a disservice. This book has been everything I wanted and then some.
This is Our Stop
Will: If I didn’t know any better, I’d say #4 was the end of the run with a teaser to maybe the next series — Harry’s gotten away, Gina and Zelda are called on the carpet and given the blame for the train disaster (unfairly, of course), and everything seems to have an air of finality UNTIL we get that tantalizing lil’ trip to the museum. Mr. Partridge (if you’re nasty), what did you think about the pacing here as we’re rounding the turn and headed toward the home stretch? Personally, I thought it was a nice job of defying expectations. And also, is it a law of both fiction and reality that all New York City mayors have to be complete, raving dicks?
Justin: OH I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!
Not only does it set us up nice and ambiguously, like all proper slashers really do, but it just completely commits to the thesis of the series. Harry was an unconventional problem that the mayor and his cronies thought they could solve conventionally. Our poor, immensely put upon leads are the people caught in the middle, but it doesn’t make the journey any less fulfilling because it didn’t put a neat little bow onto the series.
Remember, Nancy doesn’t get away from Freddy at the end of the first movie. Jason was always waiting at the bottom of Crystal Lake, and he always will be. I love the idea of this series not only leaning into this trope, but almost baking it into the narrative. Daring us to ruminate on a Maniac of New York 2.
Will: Finally — and I guess this is getting us ready for the big ol’ finale — I don’t think I’m ready for this series to end. It’s dumb fun in the best of slasher traditions, *and* it’s so fucking grounded. Harry, please don’t go. Don’t go away. I’m begging you to stay. And maybe not cut me up into lil’ pieces. We’ll see you one more time … at least.
Short Shocks
- The Chuy Valley is located in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and is, according to Edibles Magazine, the “birthplace of cannabis.”
- We learn in a flashback that Gina’s teenage boyfriend is killed on Aug. 3, 2009, a date that is both oddly specific and makes me feel old as fuck.
- Lotta fun black comedy here, too. We love a good “slipping on blood” gag.
- What’s the worst slasher movie y’all have ever sat through, and why is it 2001 David Boreanez vehicle Valentine?
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
