The Deviant #7 // Review
There’s an FBI agant visiting a woman in Plainfield, Wisconsin. She makes masks and sells them on Etsy. The agent is looking for information regarding a murder. Hard to imagine why. The woman lives out int the middle of nowhere rural Wisconsin. (Plainfield has a population of 836.) There was a murder. There’s a good chance tha the murderer was wearing a mask made by the woman at the time. The investigation continues of The Deviant #7. Writer James Tyrion IV continues his Christmas-based police procedural with artist Joshua Hixson. Further clues are revealed in another chapter of the moody, wintery Wisconsin mystery.
The woman from Plainfield is really excited at the prospect of making money with more of the masks patterned after the one that had been used in the killing. The FBI is just happy that they have a lead. The mask artist has mailing address and PayPal info and such. Meanwhile, back in Milwaukee, an old killer continues to be interviewed in prison for insight into a recent killing. This isn’t Silence of the Lambs, though. There’s real emotion bleeding through the killer. He’s a million kinds of frustrated and the investigator might just hit on the right strategy to get some information about the murder.
Tynion is working with tropes that have been used pretty extensively before. The narrow focus of a single holiday season in Southeastern, Wisconsin continues to provide some inked. I've flavor about the story. The author doesn't try to overload the narrative with too much of that is distinct to the region. this is a really good thing as too much local flavor would feel cheap. At the heart of it, the center of the story is really about murder and some of the incentives for it. The author is wise to focus on that over other peripheral concerns.
Hixson’s work is very atmospheric. The chill in the air of the holidays in and around southeastern Wisconsin feel more or less perfect. Plainfield is actually more of a central Wisconsin area that would have gotten significantly more snow than Milwaukee in December of 2023 when the story is set. And while it’s probably quite unlikely that the artist did that much research into the situation, it IS worth noting that a healthy blanket of snow is on the ground outside the mask artist’s home. It’s nice to think that there’s that kind of focus on the visuals of a story that is meant to be very well grounded in reality. In addition to this, Hixson manages some really sharp and nuanced drama in the center of the frame as the investigation continues.
The investigation continues. The Twin Peaks, Silence of the Lambs, Fargo sort of a fusion that Tyrion seems to be reaching for is satisfying enough. There isn’t a great deal of insight into the natural of homicide and the human condition, but it’s rich and moody. When the story is finished, it might be a great deal of fun to read on some day in late December in and around the holidays.
