Cutter #3 Review

Is this mystery/horror fitting reading material for this Halloween? Read on to find out.

The official description from Top Cow:

CUTTER: Issues 1-4, weekly throughout October! What if that kid you and your friends picked on in your youth came back with a vengeance…to kill you and your friends? That dark guilt-ridden fear is at the core of CUTTER, a cautionary tale about the sins of your past coming back to haunt you. Jeremy lives a quiet life with his wife in a rural town. Successful and stable, Jeremy is the guy next door. But he and his high school friends share a dark secret. And when that secret literally comes back to haunt them, Jeremy must confront his past and his own sanity as he comes face to face with a vicious serial killer…”The Cutter.” From television writer SEAMUS KEVIN FAHEY (Battlestar Galactica, The Following) and comic writer ROBERT PLACE NAPTON (Son of Merlin) with art by acclaimed horror artist CHRISTIAN DIBARI.

Having a weekly schedule, and only lasting four issues is something that is no easy feat. On one side you can see the rapid succession as a chance to allow events to stay fresh in readers mind, but on the other it also gives little time to click with the reader that this is something worth investing in. Overall Cutter manages to fall somewhere in the middle, as though it’s not the most impressive of weekly series that Top Cow has produced, the story itself is compelling enough to keep me interested.

Seamus Kevin Fahey and Son of Merlin writer Robert Place Napton have been doing a relatively good job of building up this mystery/horror, with the release schedule being perfectly placed near Halloween. One thing that has really intrigued me about their writing is the way they allow us to question whether lead character Jeremy is the killer, and whether his theory is just something his subconscious has concocted. This is a major focal point in this issue, with the climax being the icing on the cake. Despite this I can’t help but feel that it’s moving a little too quickly, and would like a more indepth look at Emily.

Minotaur Press has been known for their black and white style, and though I have generally found this to be acceptable, and at times appropriate, I don’t on feel this with Cutter. Taking nothing away from artist, Christian DiBari, whose work is amazing, the lack of colour and tone makes the majority of the issue, and furthermore the series, feel plain. Despite this DiBari’s art allows for some very intense moments, with both the gore and emotional focus being enthralling.

Cutter is continuing to be a wonderful series to company Halloween season, with the mixture of mystery and horror allowing for a lot of intensity. I do however feel that the series doesn’t give enough focused to the suspected killer, with the psychological aspect taking over. Still this issue does enough to get a recommendation from me, leaving me eager to read next weeks concluding issue.