Writer: Devin Faraci
Artist: Vic Malhotra
Colors: Jason Millet
Letterer: Christa Miesner
Review by: Deanna Chapman (@deeechap)
Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me is an adaptation of the book by Jim Thompson from the 50s. Two movie adaptations exist, one from 1976 and one from 2010. Despite all of that, some of you may be unfamiliar with this story. Lou Ford is the protagonist, who happens to be a deputy sheriff and sociopath. He engages in a relationship with a prostitute and plans to exact revenge for his dead foster brother who died in a construction “accident.” It’s safe to say that this is a mature and NSFW comic.
Devin Faraci is typically busy being the Editor-in-Chief over at Birth. Movies. Death., but he took on the task of recreating The Killer Inside Me. Having source material already makes the task of whittling down the content to fit the comic book format a difficult one. He does it well and gets across all of the right points. Vic Malhotra does an excellent job portraying the established characters and his focus on facial expressions is outstanding, especially with Lou Ford. This first issue isn’t much of a gruesome one as expected with a title like The Killer Inside Me. As this series progresses, we’ll see how he handles this.
Jason Millet is on colors and he does a fantastic job with capturing the 1950s tone to the comic. He shades various scenes in a way that fits well with the changing situations. Both bedroom scenes have a focus on blue, while the outdoor, daylight scenes really emphasize the shades of yellow and orange. Lights that you see throughout the issue, whether it be a lamp or headlights, never seem exaggerated against the given background. It’s well done. Christa Miesner put the conversations in all capital letters while the narration has your typical capitalization within sentences. While it’s already easy to tell the two apart, it’s a nice touch.
At the end of the comic, you see a handful of pages from Stephen King, a personal favorite writer of mine. You get a spoiler warning before reading, but considering the book came out in 1952, read it anyway. You’ll get a little bit more of an understanding for just what to expect from future issues of the comic.
Verdict: Buy. As a whole, the comic comes together well and IDW has a great adaptation on their hands. As a fan of a show like Dexter, the decision to check this out is easy. If seeing how the wheels churn for a sociopath is something you find intriguing, this is the comic for you. Also, if you’re just into crime novels in general and love to see a nice comic book adaptation of one, then check it out. It may even make you read the original book.
