I always get a kick out of a good metafictional genre story. Give me a crime/horror comic that reflects on the nature of storytelling within the crime/horror genres, and I'm all in. But it's rare that I also come out of such a story with an excitement for something beyond the heady ideas.
After reading the first two issues of You'll Do Bad Things, a new book from Image Comics by writer Tyler Boss and Adriano Turtulici, it's the grippingly gorgeous visual that have haunted my dreams alongside the clever conceits.
You'll Do Bad Things follows a writer named Seth Holms, who had a massive hit ten years ago with a true crime book called He Came in With a Smile. But he hasn't done anything else since then, much to his publisher's chagrin. Holms has been struggling to write a genuine romance novel—something that doesn't just rely on the lurid thrill of serial killers and horrible deaths. But every time he starts to type, gruesome violence keeps overtaking the page.
The problem isn't just that Holms can't escape the thrill of writing about brutal murders. It's that somehow, every scrapped draft he's written has also started coming true.
Storywise, You'll Do Bad Things fits somewhere in-between Stephen King's Misery and John Darnielle's Devil House. But it's Turtulici's rich, pulpy artwork that really set it apart. There's a noirish vibe on every page that naturally suits the story, but Turtulici elevates each moment with rich, almost neon lightning, producing a beautifully contrast between the shadows and the bright, bold colors. The resulting neon noir aesthetic falls somewhere David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive.
Turtulici also cleverly evokes Lichensteinian pop art during a few key moments to help the story blend reality and fiction. Is this just some pulp comic scene, forged from one of Holms' rejected romance story plots? Or is this actually happening in the real world of the story? It's that mind-bending excitement that elevates the story beyond any other slasher crime comic, and turns into something more intriguing.
The first issue (of six) of You'll Do Bad Things comes out March 26 (with a final order cutoff of March 3, so talk to your local comic shop ASAP), with the collected edition due in December. As I said above, I've had the privilege of reading the first two chapters so far, and I can't wait for the rest.
Here's the official synopsis, courtesy of Image Comics:
It's been ten years since the release of He Came in With a Smile, the true crime smash hit that chronicled the brutal murders committed by the Nursery Rhyme Killer. But in the decade since its release, its author Seth Holms hasn't produced another title. He wants to write a story with a happy ending, but every time his fingers clack across the keyboard, it always ends in his character's death. Worse yet? These tales of blood and barbarity that flow so freely from Seth's mind are starting to happen in real life.
You'll Do Bad Things [Tyler Boss and Adriano Turtulici / Image Comics]
