Special Cursed Pages: MANIAC OF NEW YORK
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan sure was something, wasn’t it? To most Jason fans out there, it was a disappointment. To a few others, it was “okay”. And I’m sure there’s a dedicated group somewhere that considers it as precious as Jason does Mom Voorhees’s head. I happen to fall into that first category, just to give you an idea of where my own head will be.
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Jason in New York… sounds freaking rad, right? The hockey-masked killer stalking the streets and alleyways of the City That Never Sleeps in the dead of night, slashing up anyone unlucky enough to step in his machete’s way! So much potential, so much promise… instead, we got our boy on a boat for 90 minutes before having a criminally quick tour of downtown NYC (mostly the British Columbia parts). Then he gets hit with toxic sewer waste and dies… the end. Yay.
I’m familiar with why they cut down on the New York scenes, but it still stings a bit. After this entry, the Friday the 13th series started to go downhill in “quality”, going from a body-possessing demon worm, to space, to getting the remake treatment. I left out his duel with one razor-gloved sandman because that crossover kicked ass, especially the last twenty minutes!
I’m rambling again. Point is, the idea of Jason Voorhees in New York is really neat. It’s a shame we didn’t see something better come out of it. Just imagine all the scenarios that could happen, the fun to be had, the blood to be spilled.
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Well, Blood Babes, Gorehounds, Fright Fiends, and everything else that goes bump in the night… I have good news for you.
Great news, even, because by the eldritch powers that be, our prayers have been answered! A talented team of artists must have seen there was untapped merit as well, creating a comic based on the concept that is every bit as gorefully gleeful as I wanted it to be. The series is titled… Maniac of New York!
Maniac of New York
(Written by Elliott Kalan; Art by Andrea Mutti; Lettered by Taylor Esposito; Published by Aftershock Comics)
“Maniac Harry is inhuman, unkillable and unstoppable. Which is why the authorities’ solution has been to ignore him, and let New Yorkers adapt to a world where death can strike at any moment. When Maniac Harry starts killing his way through the subway system, trauma-haunted political aide Gina Greene and disgraced NYPD detective Zelda Pettibone become determined to go rogue and destroy him. But how can they fight a monster when they can’t fight City Hall?” – via ComiXology.
For obvious reasons, Jason himself couldn’t be used for the story. Instead, we have “Maniac Harry”, who is every bit as tenacious as his more famous counterpart. His design is inspired by the Crystal Lake Slasher, but also manages to be very much his own. The mask, the winter jacket, the weird machete thing with the spikes; all are very rad and differentiate him enough while keeping the Voorhees spirit alive. He does his fair share of slashing as well, and it looks killer!
That’s a good point to talk about, actually. How it all looks. In short, this comic looks freaking fantastic! The art perfectly fits the story being told, being kind of a rough-yet-detailed sketch style with muted colors, which complements the wintry city setting. Then the killing starts, bathing the scenes in bright red blood that adds a brilliant touch of color to everything, all while being gloriously gruesome.
The premise is genuinely fun, being a more natural progression of where Jason’s story should have gone after Part VIII. The idea is that Maniac Harry showed up in New York three years prior, and after the initial shock of his appearance, is now treated like any other occurrence that happens in the Big Apple. Like the weather, except with more of a chance to brutally maim you. I mean, what can you do at that point? An undead slasher massacres hundreds over the past few years and all attempts to kill him have failed… guess we’ll put out “slasher warnings” in the news and hope for the best! Stay safe, folks! Another job well done! I love every bit of this narrative, and highly prefer it to any of the later F13 movies (save for Freddy vs. Jason, as previously stated).
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What we have here is something special. Something I didn’t even know I wanted so badly until I just happened to scroll by a comment talking about the series. It’s a love letter to those Jason fans that were let down after watching Part VIII’s credits roll, let down by a film that promised so much, yet gave so little. Although its five-issue run just wrapped up a few days ago, I’m thrilled to say a second volume will come out next year, continuing the saga of Maniac Harry… the urban Jason Voorhees story we never got. I couldn’t be more excited to see where this all goes.
To support this series and read it for yourself, you can buy it digitally here, as well as pre-order the paperback copy here. It’s well worth a look.
Until next time…
Ciao, friends!
Categorized:Editorials News
