COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Dexter #1

Written by Jeff Lindsay

Art by Dalibor Talajic

Colors by Ive Svorcina

Published by Marvel Comics

So Marvel went and did it, a comic not based on a superhero or galactic being, but rather a serial killer with a moral code. This kicks off the first of a five issue mini series written by Dexter creator Jeff Lindsay, for those of you not familiar with the name he is the man behind the original Dexter novels around which the show is based. The first season of the show revolves around Lindsay’s first Dexter novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and the show has since blazed its own path deviating from the other novels. That being said, one thing I really loved about this comic is that it is not based on the show, but rather the novels. It’s a different Dexter than most are used to seeing on the TV and I for one appreciate that.

It’s not that I don’t like the show, I love it, but with the new season just premiering it would have been very easy to instead write this comic around the show. Maybe filling us in on the going-ons in between this and the last season, but instead what we get is a fresher take on the Bay Harbor Butcher, the one Lindsay had originally intended when developing his character. Dexter and everyone in his life look different act different and truly seem to almost be different people, almost. This is Lindsay’s Dexter, not Showtime’s, and that made it all the more interesting. It was like meeting Dexter for the first time since I have never read the novels.

The story itself seems pretty straightforward with character introduction, plot set up and what appears to be the bad guy, maybe? You won’t be blown away by the story at first, but it is good enough to keep you interested in turning to the next page and then leaves you with the want for the next issue. When the high school bully is introduced I almost rolled my eyes as they were being bathed in cliché, but Lindsay finds a way to turn that on its ear and deliver something I was not expecting, and that was a very nice surprise. I especially loved that pivotal moment when the whole bully/victim scenario gets turned upside down and instead hits us with a plot point we were not expecting.

The art of the book really drew me in as well. Again this is Lindsay’s Dexter and Talajic really delivers on that. I was expecting a Michael Hall rendering and instead I got a guy who looks completely different, which is another thing I really liked. What I loved the most though was the Dark Passenger. On the show it’s the way Dexter describes his urge to kill, but in the novels it’s a supernatural being that drives Dexter to kill. Here every time Dexter is taken over by his Dark Passenger we get this really creepy black shadow behind him. I loved the thought of the Dark Passenger behind him, driving his actions. All the usual stuff you look for in comic art is on point too such as facial expressions and the like.

Overall Dexter is shaping up to be a really great comic and I cannot wait to see how it plays out and if my guesses about the plot were correct. The story, while seemingly pretty basic, takes a nice twist that you don’t see coming, coupled with some good art and what you get is a great read.

4 out of 5 nerds