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Sometimes the art and narrative of a comic goes hand in hand. A horror story can be filled with a lot of black and red, while a superhero comic book is brighter and cleaner. Paranoia Killer goes in a different direction. The series is a dark thriller, full of violence and serious issues, but with a visual style that resembles a Nickelodeon cartoon. Somehow, it still works.
What is that? Paranoia Killer is a brand new series – so far, only the first of four parts are available – that focuses on Nathalie Laertes, an FBI agent forced to take on a very strange secret job: impersonating her twin brother. It turns out that her twin, whom she believed to be only a slightly troubled brother, was actually one of the most famous killers in the world. Surprise!
Nathalie discovers all of this when her brother appears dead and his boss forces him to impersonate him to infiltrate a criminal organization. Part of it is that they are identical twins, so she has a low gaze. But they also apparently share some kind of “aura” that makes any change possible. The first edition ends when things really start to heat up, when she heads to a training center for criminals in the middle of the desert.
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The configuration of the thriller has a lot of potential, and I am hooked right after the first edition. But part of what it does Paranoia Killer so interesting is its contrast of styles. History is classified material for minors; you’ll see characters shot to death in cold blood and start with what appears to be a torture sequence. But it is combined with a surprisingly cheerful art style, with flat colors and many simple and clear shapes.
In the afterword of the first edition, the creator Victor Santos states that this contrast of styles was born partly from stubbornness. “I opted for a more exaggerated cartoon style in this book, I suppose because I am very stubborn, and I still read from time to time some critics saying that you can’t do ‘serious things’ with that style,” he writes. Well, so far, he has made his point; in issue one, art does not distract, but it gives Paranoia Killer a very distinct vibration.
Who is it for? Paranoia Killer is the brainchild of Victor Santos, a Spanish comic book creator who took care of all parts of the project: history, art and design. He is probably best known for the series Polar, which is also about a murderer.
Where can I read this? Paranoia Killer is the most recent release of Panel Syndicate, a digital platform for comics managed by creators. So far, he has presented excellent series like The Private Eye – a story about a future without internet by Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente – and even a Living Dead spin off. It’s a great place to find some unusual stories, like the incredible Umami by Ken Niimura, which may not have a place in more traditional publishers. It also operates under a pay-as-you-go system, allowing you to support creators in whatever way you feel comfortable.