The Deviant #6: Derek

The Deviant struggles at times to keep Michael, seemingly the series’ main protagonist, central in the reader’s mind. The thematic elements run largely through him, but the story doesn’t always seem to. The Deviant #6 runs afoul of this very issue, making Michael more of a subject to be discussed than anything else. And for all of Tynion’s efforts, it doesn’t live up to the issue that precedes it.

Derek spends the opening pages of The Deviant #6 arguing with Michael’s parents and their lawyer. The encounter goes poorly when Derek realizes that they aren’t convinced Michael is innocent. He ends up in a bar drinking with the same friend from work that appeared earlier in the series. Detective Hall happens to be at the bar as well and Derek confronts him. Hall in fact has reservations, but he doesn’t reveal them. Eventually Derek does the only thing he can do–try to solve the case himself.

Following the strongest issue since The Deviant #1, The Deviant #6 doesn’t feature Michael at all and is instead primarily a Derek issue. It does add richer detail about their relationship via Derek’s interaction with Michael’s parents. This is the first time the series provides real emotional context for Derek and Michael’s relationship. Prior to this issue the series hadn’t offered much about the couple besides a shared interest in true crime and that Michael is a little weird. In this issue, with Derek front and center, the absence of further connection between the characters is keenly felt. Indeed, Derek feels like more of plot necessity than a character in this issue.

More successful is a scene featuring Detective Hall. Whereas in previous issues the detective appeared locked in on Michael without reservation, The Deviant #6 reveals his position to be more nuanced. He’s not unquestionably sold on Michael as the murderer. And through him it’s revealed that a significant part of the case being made against Michael is based on Michael’s sexual orientation, his interaction with the incarcerated deviant killer, and the word of the cop who arrested the deviant killer. The ugliness of it immediately makes Hall more sympathetic despite him being an antagonist for Michael and Derek.

An unfortunate aspect of this scene, though, is that it reinforces a potential interpretation of the series that homosexuality is itself a kind of deviant behavior. Tynion has already tied Michael’s growing self-awareness in childhood to his interest in the deviant killer and his house. While it is certainly not his intention to link homosexuality to deviant behavior, the series does at times straddle a line where some readers could interpret it that way.

Hixson elevates the Derek material considerably in The Deviant #6. The character is expressive throughout, sometimes bordering on over exaggerated. Derek runs through anger, despondency, frustration, and resolve. The issue is tasked with developing Derek far beyond what the series has to this point while at the same time integrating him as a key component of the plot. Hixson’s use of facial lines throughout the series has been spare. He has typically communicated a great deal via characters’ eyes, how wide or narrow they are and their specific eyelines. Hixson adds considerable detail to Derek throughout this issue. In the absence of much truly emotional development for Derek in past issues, this is a very effective choice.

The Deviant #6 tracks Derek beginning his own amateur investigation over the course of three pages. It’s the issue’s most effective sequence, and Tynion’s choice to avoid any version of Derek talking to himself makes it even stronger. Not every panel features Derek’s entire body or his face, but Hixson makes the most of the panels that do, once again adding extra detail to Derek’s face and body language that helps track the passage of time and the character’s developing thought process.

Otsmane-Elhaou again employs the squiggly dialogue bubbles and tails in the issue. He’s repeatedly used the device to signify some form of heightened emotion. In this instance he uses the device to emphasize Derek’s heightened emotions in the issue, especially anger.