​Review; Norman #1

Review by Paul Fiander

Writer / Artist: Stan Silas
Publisher: Titan Comics

Cover A: Roman Dirge

When it comes to bland names Norman has to be quite near the top of bunch. Although there have been some rather memorable characters with the name the one most apt to Stan Silas’s character is the hotel owner Norman Bates. This is because they both  share an extracurricular activity in the pursuit of murder. However the main difference between both of these Norman’s is in age, Silas’s version is a cute blonde 8 year old boy. This twist on the usual homicidal maniac helps to give the series a rather surreal feel that will put a smile on your face from time to time and make you go ooh at others.

Thanks to its cartoony style Norman never feels like it is trying to shock you, there are no attempted jump scares and each page is set out to tell the story rather than try to achieve the jump. This allows the writer/artist to really play with the idea of a child being a killer. The deaths themselves are pretty gruesome in theory and this gives our imaginations room to play and for me that is the best way to show horror. The other facet of the series is comedy and this mostly comes from the ridiculous nature of the central players. They come in the form of Norman and his classmates as well as his rather unstable teacher Ms Jameson. The humour of naivety is played up perfectly as we get to see things from a child’s perspective.

As you can see from the attached art Silas has a rather easy on the eye style. There is not much detail in his characters but through the use of the facial features he has you get a real sense of who they are. His panels are mixed in composition helping to keep each page fresh especially during some of the funny yet rather long dialogue sequences.

There are already two volumes of the Norman story out there but this is the first of its new monthly release. I have read both of the volumes but tried to look at this in the eyes of a new reader. There is a page of explanation about who and what Norman is however the previous story does not get a retelling but you can piece it together through this issue. This does put new readers at a disadvantage but it really is worth the reading either from this point or better yet go back to the start with the first Volume.

Overall this is a great Translation of a fun title, there is a dark streak running through it that will get bigger if you have a dark mind.Overall it’s just a great read and well worth your consideration come wednesday.

Cover B by Stan Silas and interior Art