Saturday, October 14, 2023

"American Psycho," #1 is an Interesting Expansion on the Film

"American Psycho," is a great film (based on a book). It is kind of in the horror genre but is more of a dark comedy. It follows a gentleman named Patrick Bateman who is a narcissistic sociopathic serial killer, but he fits in perfectly within the world of business due to how empty and vapid he is. A new comic-book sorta-sequel (it draws from the movie) has just started with the same title, "American Psycho," and it has me intrigued. 

I'm not super familiar with writer Michael Calero, but have been a big fan of artist Piotr Kowalski and colorist Brad Simpson since their work on, "Sex," with Joe Casey. The comic starts sort of weaving another character into the story (detective Donald Kimball) as he witnesses the events of the movie from a different perspective and it is made clear his character was actually quite possibly a serial killer too (and more aware of what was going on than the flick would hint). That was perfectly alright if a bit revisionist when it comes to the movie. However, my interest was really piqued when we jumped to 2011 and witnessed some 20-somethings at a nightclub including a girl named Charlene Carruthers who seemed to have her own psychotically violent urges. A few more twists and turns occur and I'm really curious about the 2011 element of the story and how that is influenced by the events of the movie in the 80s.

While I was a little thrown by the rewriting of Donald Kimball's character, if it serves the 2011 part of the story then perhaps tweaking the classic flick could be for the best. I noted back in 2020 how, "American Psycho," was uncomfortably prescient of what our World has morphed into. Therefore, a comic exploring how social media and our obsession with status (as the series hints it will be examining in future issues) mirrors the chasing of clout in the 80s makes perfect sense using, "American Psycho," as a foil. Things are only going to get more twisted. Buckle up.

5 out of 5 stars.

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