Comics like The Denim Devil and Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees has a lot to answer for. I hadn’t read horror comics for a long time, having become quite squeamish in middle age. Yet the tales of almost charmingly inept slashers and animal serial killers clearly gave me the taste for blood; I recently dived headfirst into the twisted It Killed Everyone But Me, and just about as soon as I finished it, I sought out more gore.

I found it with The Slasher’s Apprentice. Like It Killed Everyone But Me, it’s published by Mad Cave Studios, who really seem to be on a winning streak in recent years, both with original and licensed comics. So what is it about?

Riley is a podcaster with a traumatic past and an obsession with serial killers. It helps that her town has its own prolific, long-running slasher who’s terrorised the community for decades. Wearing a lion mask, The Hopton Valley Killer murders entire households at will, and is seemingly untouchable. Yet Riley has a plan, and may have found her idol…

This is a seriously dark comic, but even though it’s brutal, it has that slasher movie vibe where you can’t help but be impressed with the inventively gory, graphic kills. The way that it sets up Riley’s obsession is very clever, and her detachment, as well as her fandom, is definitely the most disturbing part of the comic.

This first issue is basically all set-up for the series, but it’s very well done, and the writing, by Justin Richards, gives us plenty to chew on without feeling too much like exposition for the sake of it.

Val Halverson’s art, with plenty of blood, blades and bursting body parts, is a fantastic match for the script too. Despite the blood and gore, Rebecca Nalty’s colouring is much more muted than you may expect.

This is a really strong first issue, and gets things off to a truly compelling start for the series. It feels like a real hidden gem, and I can’t wait to see how things develop over the next four issues in the series.

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