Warning: Spoilers for You Won’t Feel a Thing #1Two comics legends join forces once again forDSTLRY’slatest stomach-turning horror series,You Won’t Feel a Thing. After reading the first issue of this serial killer story, I can safely say that Scott Snyder and Jock are at the top of their game, offering true, gory horror - for those who can stand it.
After working together ontitles likeDetective Comics,Wytches, and the hybrid visual novelBook of Evil,Snyder and Jock reunite forYou Won’t Feel a Thing, a horrific murder mystery about an aging detectivewho can’t trust his own mind. But when an unsolved case - and a mysterious serial killer, the Chatter Man - returns to plague his hometown of Harmless, Montana, he has to put his mind to the test one last time.
January 15th, 2025
Variant Covers:
Tula Lotay, Jae Lee, Marcos Martín, Eliza Ivanova, Oliver Barrett
You Won’t Feel a Thing#1 isa brutal first issue by two vital artistic minds steeped in the horror genre, perfect for fans of noir, detective and/or serial killer stories,and true crime(despite the comic’s subtle critique of the true crime genre). Despite my own reservations about how violence functions in the story - not the violence itself, buthow it works- I can’t deny that this issue is an accomplishment for two frequent collaborators at the top of their game.
You Won’t Feel a Thing#1 Reunites Snyder and Jock for a Perfectly Crafted Horror Comic
Pre-Order Before November 18th, 2024
Framed by flashbacks to the detective’s youth,You Won’t Feel a Thingfollows a retired homicide detective, John, who now lives in an assisted care facility after being diagnosed with a tumor that is slowly but surely affecting his memory. The first issue slowly reveals more about John’s past - including his high school girlfriend, Flower - and his own obsession with his career, which has focused on publicly-known serial killers. Despite being essentially confined to the care facility by both its staff and his own family,John works hard to keep his mind and memory fresh, especially as he’s haunted by the unsolved case of the Chatter Man.
Looking for another superb serial killer comic book series? Check outThe Deviantby James Tynion IV and Joshua Hixson, available now from Image Comics.
Snyder has spent recent yearsworking on and publishing exclusively creator-owned comics, and you can tell how much that work has paid off for him inYou Won’t Feel a Thing, and not only because of its mastery of a very specific noir-ish genre, displaying his range beyond superheroes. This issue’ssubtle mastery of craft- frame narratives, controlled first-person narration, evocative imagery, point of view shifts, and more - perfectly manipulates the reader into a very specific position in the story.
Personally, I’m stilldazzled and delighted by Snyder’s sly shift from first person narration to second personat vital points in John’s flashbacks. These second person moments bring me, as the reader, somehow even closer to John’s perspective - closer to the story through an accusatory mode that is just as uncomfortable as it should be.
You Won’t Feel a Thingis more than a simple serial killer story.
Jock’s art, too, is as atmospheric as it’s always been, made even more potent by both time and the comfort of two frequent, familiar collaborators. Likehis own DSTLRY series before this,Gone,Jock’s art is seriously served by DSTLRY’s oversize prestige format, with each double page spread, especially of the hazy and somewhat-confused flashbacks, giving him room to emphasize setting and mood as much as character and the necessary movement of plot. Jock’s signature shadow-forward style was made for stories like this - a contemporary art style giving a needed twist to a classic detective-vs-killer set up.
What IsYou Won’t Feel a ThingReally About?
A Different Kind of Body Horror
Beyond the trappings of the murder mystery, though,You Won’t Feel a Thingis more thana simple serial killer story, instead offeringjust as many questions about the nature of aging and memory as about “whodunit.“The real horror here - in addition to the literal gore and terrifying Chatter Man design, courtesy of Jock - is John’s failing memory and aging body, unable to serve him as it once did. There’s real anxiety in this story about what it means to be forced to leave one’s vocation behind, not out of desire but rather out of the inescapable monster of time’s effect on the human body.
That anxiety about aging is made all the more potent by John’s remembrances - can they be trusted? - of his youth, and especially of his time with Flower, his beloved girlfriend. Before the flashbacks turn truly horrific, they’re generally focused on young John’s desire for Flower as much as his love for her, depicting the beginnings of their sexual relationship. And there lies the real tension of the story, as least as I see it, hidden behind the battle between the killers and the detectives:the battle between the vitality of the young and the decay of the elderly. And then there’s Flower, stuck in between.
The following section spoils a major plot point and discusses violence against women.
You Won’t Feel a Thing#1 Is an Accomplished Story, But I Have One Major Concern
How a Story Depicts Violence Matters - Even in Horror
If Flower’s stuck, then I’m stuck on Flower, as she’s the piece in this story I’m struggling to understand, the key to answering why and how this story needs to be told. Before proposing to Flower, John comes across her brutally murdered body - what he, professionally, would call “extreme overkill.” We, as readers, also encounter Flower’s murdered body in two full splash pages,a gory, tragic scene that genuinely turns my stomach. “Extreme overkill.” I’m not opposed, obviously, to violence, horror, gore - I wouldn’t be readinghorror comicsotherwise - but I always have to askhowthat violence is serving the story.
It’sdifficult to stomach such a brutal and violently gorgeous depiction of a murdered woman, especially when the story appears to present Flower’s murder as motivation for John’s future career: a classic case of “fridging.” It’s even more difficult to stomach this shock-value violence in the week after the 2024 American election, as threats against women, their choices, and their bodies - our bodies - rise in the United States.
It’s possible that this issue, which features the gory murder ofa female character who is only witnessed through her boyfriend’s perspective, simply isn’t for me and my particular position as a woman. In that way, at least,You Won’t Feel a Thingis genuinely terrifying. But violence, just like point-of-view shifts, is a craft tool, and one that must be used with care, even in genres that rely on it. Even by issue’s end, I’m still wondering to what end violence is being used in this comic: an inescapably visual medium.
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It’s not that I don’t think there’s a place for horror stories depicting and discussing violence against and the murder of women and other vulnerable people - they’re necessary and potent, especially when the violence itself serves as a question as much as a motivation. That said, I also don’t think one can judge an entire series by its first issue. I hope that future issues ofYou Won’t Feel a Thingupend my initial reaction, giving reason for the brutality beyond base-level horror and living up to the otherwise perfectly craftedDSTLRYhorror story by two creators at the very top of their game.
You Won’t Feel a Thing#1is on FOC until November 15th, 2024, and is available January 15th, 2025 from DSTLRY Media.
DSTLRY
DSTLRY is a comic and collectibles publisher founded in 2023. Formed by former comiXology heads, DSTLRY is known for some more famous works such as “Gone” and “Spectregraph” and continues to expand to include a wide variety of genres and artists.
