Rennie Bethary is accepted into the prestigious New York Fashion and Design Institute, and impresses her peers with her sartorial creations. Yet what they don’t know is that Rennie’s self-made clothes are fashioned from the bodies of her victims; you see, Rennie has a secret life as a killer of predators, abusers and bullies. Why bother trying to dispose of evidence that could be found, when it can be repurposed and hidden in plain sight?

Right from the multiple covers (with some clever parodies of famous fashion photography included) onwards, the first issue of I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer marks itself out as a title with a seriously twisted and macabre premise, albeit shot through with the darkest of humour and a strong sense of justice. Like a fashionista Dexter, Rennie’s victims (or at least the ones we see) feel deserving of their fate (to a certain extent, of course), helping the reader to find a bit of catharsis in actions that would otherwise be inexcusable.

Doug Wagner’s script walks a delicate tightrope with its tone, subject matter and protagonist; though we’re on Rennie’s team for the most part in this first issue, the bitchy competitiveness of fashion school life sets up several potential complications for our protagonist in further issues.

Daniel Hillyard’s art is perfectly suited to the story, with a visual style that keeps things from being too grim, even when there’s some truly shocking events to illustrate. Lastly, Michelle Madsen’s colours do a great job of keeping the art grounded, at least until it calls for copious amounts of vivid red. Of which, at times, there’s a lot.

It’s grim stuff when you take a step back from being inside Rennie’s head, but like the itch she just can’t scratch (from her skin condition),  you won’t be able to put down this opening chapter of I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer. Issue 1 left me very impressed, and hungry for more.

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