The Deviant #6

The Deviant (Single Issues) #6

by James Tynion IV, Joshua Hixson (artist)

One of the grimmest chapters in Milwaukee’s history repeats itself as the law descends on Michael Schmitz, eerily echoing the Deviant Killer’s arrest half a century ago. But is Michael the copycat murderer…or just another outsider primed to take the blame for an act of horror he didn’t commit?

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Queer

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 12, 2024

About the author

Prior to his first professional work, Tynion was a student of Scott Snyder's at Sarah Lawrence College. A few years later, he worked as for Vertigo as Fables editor Shelly Bond's intern. In late 2011, with DC deciding to give Batman (written by Snyder) a back up feature, Tynion was brought in by request of Snyder to script the back ups he had plotted. Tynion would later do the same with the Batman Annual #1, which was also co-plotted by Snyder. Beginning in September 2012, with DC's 0 issue month for the New 52, Tynion will be writing Talon, with art by Guillem March. In early 2013 it was announced that he'd take over writing duties for Red Hood and the Outlaws in April.

Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did the canary just get delivered to the cat? Or….is it the other way around?

Issue #6 ups the tension! And urges you to question everything. Is Michael guilty? What does Derek know? What’s up with the FBI guy? And will there be more blood and death under the tree this holiday season?

Next book comes out August 7th. I’ll be right here waiting for answers or at least more clues.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay the FBI agent quickly became a favorite. The ending? Let's go!

[Cybernex007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

YEA THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, Michael has been arrested and the only people that really give a shit about innocence until proven guilty are the gay people. History is not going to repeat itself this time, or at least I hope not. I’m eating this up and getting hype with the cliffhangers this issue left. No one is more pissed as we get into this issue than Derek. Michael has been pretty distant from his divorced parents for a while now, they haven’t even spoken in 3 months and they don’t ever spend holidays together. All the while Derek has been living with him for the past 8 years, so to suddenly see his parents take the reigns with the family lawyer and fully get the vibe from them that they think he did it…yeah, I would be pissed too. This sent Derek spiraling to a bar with his coworker for some real talk and Josh can’t help but float the idea to Derek about considering the evidence really points to Michael doing it. Derek can’t help but think about the previous deviant killer, how they had one thing on him to tie him to the crime and they stuck with it and put it all on him. The only difference now is that Michael actually has Derek, someone who loves and supports him and sees him as the nerdy moody regular weird guy he is. Suddenly Derek looks across the bar and spots the famous green nail polish of Agent Baz. I will note, trying to be funny, that I am a little concerned with how much red Derek is wearing this issue (very Santa like) and we don’t really know who has sent Randall letters before, but that seems like an insane twist that would come across as cheap so I’m probably not going to mention it again, lol. But back to the story, Derek walks over to talk to Agent Baz who was enjoying a nice drink and a smoke. Derek immediately starts pointing out the obvious nature of this case, that no killer would hang his murder outfit in an unlocked closet after leaving his driver’s license at the scene of the crime and whoever did this is out there. Baz seems to have that doubt as well, but he can also see the anger and displeasure in Derek’s face and isn’t going to engage with him any further, leaving him alone and unsure of what to do in the bar.

We catch up with Baz in the DA’s office sitting next to Paul waiting to talk to the DA. Paul immediately makes a comment about Baz’s look, and how he thought there was some kind of “decorum” with FBI guys. Baz immediately assumes he is talking about his race, but Paul stops him and points out his nails and asks if that’s supposed to make people feel uncomfortable. As Baz talks a nice deep puff from a vape, Baz drops the hilarious line: “That might just be a nice side effect.” Baz can clearly see Paul now, and that’s just further putting doubt into this case. As Baz walks in to talk to the DA, all the evidence laid out before them, Baz expresses discomfort in the case as it stands. The pieces put themselves together and the DA is more than willing to take a weird antisocial type with a fixation on an old murder case he decided to recreate, meeting the original killer and taunting the cop who brought the original in. They have a time period unaccounted for Michael where he could of traveled to and from the department store and then they have the rest of the picture of Michael going to brag to the old killer the next day. There are so many problems with that Baz immediately points out. They have recordings from the prison, he didn’t brag about anything, also pointing out the cop is something they should be careful with and is not a reliable witness as he claims Michael threatened him. Yeah, threatened his fragile ego with his very existence. Baz points out that Paul bear Randall within an inch of his life and tried it again with Michael and they need to be careful. Baz then shifts to the killer’s mask, it’s a very specific mask and Baz asks where you can buy one like it. There are a few conditions Baz wants to see met before feeling good about the case. If they can put Michael on the road to Chicago that night, prove he bought the mask, or any proof he was in the locker room where the driver’s license was found then Baz will like it, otherwise Baz doesn’t like it and I’m right there not liking it as well.

That night Derek sat at home rocked with thoughts about everything…so he finally decided to do something about it. Made some coffee, did laundry, and started putting together his own murder mystery board to connect and clearly see every piece of evidence. As the issue comes to a close we see Derek taking very drastic action, going to the prison…and sitting down to talk to Randall. Telling him that he thinks they are trying to do the same thing to Michael they did to him all those years ago and he needs Randall’s help. OMG, this sounds like Randall will be able to exonerate himself by helping someone else put into his same position. Or maybe he won’t be able to, but at the very least being able to help someone who has the life he could of had if he wasn’t charged with a crime he didn’t commit is a selfless act I’m sure Randall will jump to help with. I’m so curious to see where this goes.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This issue was solid, though it didn’t feel like much truly happened. It served more as a setup piece, giving readers a closer look at secondary characters like Derek (Michael’s boyfriend) and the FBI agent. The agent’s growing doubts about the planted evidence add an interesting layer, while Derek’s quiet determination to prove Michael’s innocence gives the story emotional weight. Despite these developments, the issue leaned heavily on dialogue and felt light on action. It’s clearly building momentum for the final stretch of the series, but as a standalone chapter, it’s fairly average.
Grade: B

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much advancement but we’ve got dueling murder boards!

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Tynion has such a talent for creating the best and most interesting characters I’ve ever read about- this series is SO good

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spooky

Dark and very unnerving, it just keeps going down the rabbit hole. Still not sure who the Deviant is. I'm hoping it's not him.

[Haruka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read!!

[athera · Rating 4 out of 5]

the he sees you when you're sleeping mention just caught me off guard. also, i'm LOVING the fbi agent character.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ The cop found the bloody cloth in his closet. So he is the killer. Is it too arbitrary to make a decision??