Slash Them All

DEBUT Cartoonist Maillard fuses elements of noir and 1980s slasher films in this chilling, emotionally complex thriller. Residents of a seemingly idyllic seaside town are shaken when a brutal serial killer begins preying upon the populace, starting with a pair of girls who are found bludgeoned to death outside the high school. A teenager named Daniel seems morbidly excited that something so profoundly awful has happened in his hometown. He’s soon drawn into a tentative romance with a classmate, Pola, whose plan to make enough money selling drugs to escape her awful home life is threatened by the increased police presence and media furor created by the killer, who comes to be known as The Bloody Batter. Maillard’s greyscale pencil illustration emphasizes shadow and texture to convey his teenage cast’s fragility and a sense of impending doom that heightens to stark terror whenever the Bloody Batter appears.