The Deviant is a comic book limited series by writer James Tynion IV and artist Joshua Hixson. Lettering was done by Hassan Otsmane-Elahaou. It was published monthly by Image Comics from 2023 to 2025. The series received critical acclaim, receiving nominations for both Best Writer and Best Limited Series at the 2025 Eisner Awards. Horror News Network named it its series of the year.
The title of the series is a reference to the historical classification of homosexuality as sexual deviancy.
Premise In 1972, a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus kills several young men in Milwaukee. Years later, a comic book writer approaches the incarcerated accused killer with the goal of writing a story about their shared identities, only for a new copycat killer to emerge.
Characters
Michael, a comic book author with an interest in serial killers Derek, a nurse and Michael's boyfriend Randall Olsen, an elderly pedophile accused of being The Deviant Killer Paul, a homophobic retired police officer who initially discovered the bodies of the vicitms Agent Hall, an FBI investigator tasked with finding the copycat killer.
Publication history In August, 2023, Image Comics announced The Deviant as a nine issue "holiday horror story" miniseries set to launch in November of the same year. In the press release, Tynion described the series a response to "The Silence of the Lambs and Jeffrey Dahmer serving as [his] first real glimpses of [his] queer identity as a young closeted Midwestern boy."
Key inspirations for the series include the works of David Fincher and Thomas Harris.
The debut issue of The Deviant was published on November 15, 2023. The ninth and final issue was published on March 19, 2025.
Reception Robert Mammone writing for Grimdark Magazine gave the first issue a rating of 5/5, praising Tynion's writing and Hixson's artwork. He further compared the relationship of Randall and Michael to that of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs. ComicsBeat described the first issue as having the makings of a "perennial horror book".
Collected Editions TitleMaterial collectedPagesReleasedISBNThe Deviant Vol. 1The Deviant #1-4152The Deviant Vol. 2The Deviant #5-9144 A deluxe hardcover single-volume edition of the series is set to be released on November 4, 2026.
References