bodIn issue #3, I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer really played against its own bloody tendencies. What we got, then, was something more deliberate and psychic in nature, as Rennie tried to adjust to a new normal of friendship and connection (while battling her shit-heel rival and her BFF’s wandering beau).
But the Rick Owens gloves are off as of the story’s penultimate fourth issue, and things are more real than ever (and maybe even a little more absurd to boot?)
We begin I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #4 with Rennie’s fave pastime: a quick murder and a long soak in their blood. The fact that Rennie’s tub is filled with two victims matters more than the actual victims (a thematic interest in the murder-centric universe of creators Doug Wagner and Daniel Hilliard). Because after pissing off her bestie Sofie (by inadvertently going on a date with her boyfriend Bodhi), Rennie needed this release.
And not only does this “therapeutic” device continue to be so visually effective — Hillyard and colorist Michelle Madsen nail the plane between grace/elegance and ultraviolence with surgical precision — but that moment gives us this issue’s biggest thematic contribution: evolution. Yes, our dear Rennie recognizes that she’s still growing and coming into herself, and that gives her the courage to try and make things right. Which is exactly what she does — until everything else goes and changes, of course.
While trying to avoid spoilers, I will say that what seemed liked a reunion with Sofie, and a return to some “normalcy” for Rennie, becomes something altogether more intense and bizarre for the scope of I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer as a whole. I can’t say it’s an editorial decision completely out of left field — Wagner and Hillyard have made strange bets in the past, and books like Plastic have worked because the two eagerly lean into the sheer absurdity of their murder-happy stories/heroes.
Variant cover by Doug Dabbs. Courtesy of Image Comics.
However, this is nonetheless a huuuge shift for I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer systemically, and it moves the book from a fun, sitcom-adjacent journey into something altogether more intense and a piece of deliberately structured genre storytelling. Think the most meme-able Liam Neeson movie ever, but with an indie comics sheen and wackiness.
Admittedly, the shift in tone and scope for I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer does work in a few key ways. The most important of those is that continued idea of evolution — it’s not just Rennie that has changed, but also the story at-large, and that feels like a great way to play with our understanding and expectations of this book. That as much as it seemed like one thing, Wagner and Hillyard can pivot with ease to keep us guessing about the true arc of Rennie’s life and our connections to these characters and what happens when the -ish really hits the fans.
Similarly, the book takes on a much darker tone and hue after the “big reveal,” and all those intense colors and shadows and just general sense of anger and foreboding do a lot to prepare us for the finale. That, and in a book where blood is as plentiful as, say, thought bubbles, having moments that meet that vivid emotionality, and don’t play it off or counter it somehow, feel extra important in truly bringing us into these final moments of the story.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
At the same time, this shift for I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer is perhaps a little too jarring. I’ve spoken a few times about the sitcom-ian feel of this book, and I think that choice of genre works for the specific tendencies and interests of Wagner and Hillyard. It’s a genre that they haven’t really toyed with so far, and I really liked the more “cutesy” decisions that both undercut and structured this specific story.
The “new genre,” however, could be interesting, but it could also do away with what’s made this story so great so far: A sense of intimacy that kept this story close to the ground and made it all about playing with and subverting key aspects of the sitcom genre. Now, that very intimacy could be translated in this new, more daring direction, but if you’ve seen these kinds of movies/shows that serve as inspiration (and you 1,000% have), then you now that nuanced humanity isn’t always a trademark.
But those are hypothetical enough woes, and for now, there’s really two key issues facilitated by this turn that have me irked/worried. The first is that the issue with Constance (Rennie’s rival/bully) is mitigated in a way that effectively denies that sweet release and general narrative payoff. I won’t tell you how exactly, but just know that I do feel some type of way about this confrontation that’s structured and facilitated the first three issues of I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer only for it to basically happen off-screen.
Courtesy of Image Comics.
It’s a representation of a larger concern for the rest of the story (that ties into some of the aforementioned concerns). Namely, and at least from a visual aspect, it strips Rennie’s kills of their intimacy, and makes them feel like hackneyed displays in your average Jason Statham flick (if he skinned people alive, of course). I want to see and feel the humanity on display as Rennie kills and renders her “prey,” and to know that she’s had to engage with that level of humanity when just such a feat isn’t so easy for her. In issue #4, though, that was done away with in a crucial moment, and if it further builds across issue #5, then a huge chunk of this book’s emotional and visual might could be stymied at the worst possible time.
Whatever is to come with I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer, though, there’s only one issue left. Would the realization of those worries hurt the hook? Maybe, but even then, I think the rest of the book has been quite impactful. What the creators have done is tell another story in their “weird psycho killer finds their humanity” saga — albeit with a little more grace and joy thrown in. A sour ending doesn’t hurt Rennie’s previous efforts, and already this book has connected with us through its liveliness, heart, genre explorations, and general efficiency.
But I still want graduation to go well enough, and let’s hope Rennie can walk the walk to give I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer the bloody, potent conclusion it truly deserves.
‘I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer’ #4 changes up the design midstream in a move both daring and anxiety-inducing
I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #4
With a new scope/tone leading into the finale, ‘I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer’ makes a big swing that’s as intriguing as it is potentially tenuous.
We get some of the more strategic and impactful murder scenes of this book so far.
The new, more involved angle for this story is at least exciting and novel.
The art team continue to find new ways to further poke and engage us as readers.
Some of the “sitcom-ness” of this book already feels sadly lost.
Important plot threads (like those around Constance) are resolved in less than satisfactory means.
