Fox Mask Killer #1 Review
With Exquisite Corpses, the tracks were being laid as the train was already headed towards its destination. Tiny Onion starting a big event-style book before anyone knew the universe’s characters was a big gamble on whether it would land with audiences. The book morphed and evolved as the series progressed and the creative teams changed between issues. It turned into something so much more than a typical new comic because of its writer’s room approach. Each of the writers from the Corpses Crew glommed onto certain characters and made them their own. One of those characters was a series standout who’s now starring in the second series spin-off, Fox Mask Killer. The writer who attached themselves to the mask, and, as the new series’ scribe, Che Grayson, and artist Adam Gorham, have taken all the hints and story bits for the character to create a prequel series that stands on its own.
Exquisite Corpses was set up as a battle royale of slashers who all come from their own worlds within the same universe. It was framed like a big summer event comic, similar to how Marvel and DC do. But none of the characters were pre-established with their own books, so having these solo series follow the original feels like the logical next step for the universe. Fox Mask Killer takes the character back to before the games, where she was an assassin working for an organization called The Tooth & Claw. We see a much more complex, fleshed-out character that we didn’t have room to explore in Exquisite Corpses. Che Grayson’s strong writing, Adam Gorham’s striking art, Jordie Bellaire’s colors, and Becca Carey’s lettering make for an exceptional debut that stands on its own as a series that can be read devoid of Exquisite Corpses knowledge.
Fox Mask Killer was one of the breakout characters of Exquisite Corpses because of her slick design, killer sword, and her general demeanor. Characters that rely so heavily on cheap heat for longevity can often fall flat when they are given their own series. But Che Grayson weaves a story with so much going on that I am upset this book is a miniseries rather than an ongoing series. We are dropped back in the past, before the games even happen, into a world that seems alien to what we have seen before. While Rascal Randy focuses on the monster and setting up a convincing series for him to inhabit, Fox Mask Killer spins off entirely from the horror elements of the original series.
Fox Mask Killer takes a more action-oriented approach to the character, rather than portraying her as a typical slasher. As a prequel, we get to see this character at a younger age before they become the slasher-style killer we originally met. We get these pieces of story that help define this character and her slice of this world. Grayson gives the character much more motivation in this issue than we had before, and it works well. We got to meet these fascinating characters in glances in EC, but now we are getting the chance to really see them.
Che Grayson’s character vision for Fox Mask Killer could have made this book a fully original series, but it instead expands this universe by exploring different genre tropes and elements. I found the exploration of the types of love through the character fascinating, especially for someone we have previously seen take lives with ease. It sets up a much deeper look at the character, which I am excited to see grow in future issues. By the end of the issue, we know what is at stake and what Fox Mask Killer is fighting for.
Adam Gorham’s an artist I have been following since The New Mutants: Dead Souls because he blew me away from the jump. It’s nothing different here as Gorham further digs into the world of the Fox Mask Killer with incredible designs of those around her and her world. Jordie Bellaire colors Gorham’s bombastic fight scenes with a really superb color palette. Some of the louder colors are muted, and Gorham’s style is visually striking, giving the book its own voice for the character. There is a page towards the end of the issue featuring fire that is an absolute showstopper, screaming for you to read this book.
Fox Mask Killer is the second of three spin-offs from Exquisite Corpses. It feels less like a spin-off, and more like an incredible run for a character we would see join a big-event book like EC. It’s endlessly fascinating to see the backward way to growing a universe out of a new book, but Fox Mask Killer is just another testament that this is one of the coolest things going on in comics.