The One Hand Killer has been stalking the streets of Neo Novena again and claimed a new victim. Johannes Vale, a graduate student whose life has been slowly falling apart, discovers he killed a man under the guise of The One Hand Killer the other night despite having no memory of it. Now, with a series of blood-drawn symbols on the wall, Johannes has to discover what compelled him to murder an innocent man in The Six Fingers #1.

Acting as the sister series to The One Hand, Dan Watters and Sumit Kumar focus on the One Hand Killer and provide a fresh twist by having Johannes forget why he committed such a horrendous crime. Johannes’s life and career increasingly unravel and draw him closer to investigating the source of it. More importantly, Watters and Kumar present it as a slow descent where he becomes more isolated from co-workers, friends, and teachers due to circumstances outside his control. But knowing the identity of the killer from the other title, the reader wants the shoe to drop and for confirmation that Johannes has taken over as the One Hand Killer. Instead of one massive event causing his break, the issue presents it as a gradual unraveling as he learns about the gaps in his knowledge. 

Watters expertly portrays that sense of unease that grows as the world becomes more alien. Presenting Johannes as a puzzle box who needs to unlock each level of the subconscious to figure out his motive gives the character a much more fascinating point of view and an unconventional antagonist. As we learned more about the detective on the case, we got a first-hand look at the titular killer, who would not initially describe himself as one. The Six Fingers focuses more on Johannes, learning more about himself and the specific clues he left behind. Without explaining why he decided to replicate the MO of the One Hand Killer, Watters creates an intriguing mystery haunting his psyche. 

Kumar’s work provides a nice balance with his portrayal of Neo Novena in the daytime. Even without the rain and neon, it still comes across as oppressive and massive as it engulfs its citizens. He suits Watters’s evocative psychological horror writing by visually portraying Johannes’s mental state through the formalist structure of the murder and the flowing and floating panels of his unraveling life. Lee Loughride also works as a colorist on this title, which helps create a shared identity with The One Hand while providing a unique color scheme to The Six Fingers. The coloring separates Johannes’s psyche by providing two distinct palettes to show him in his everyday life and when retracing his murderous steps. Letterer Aditya Bidika also works on this title and brings such an impressive personality to the thought panels and the speech bubbles. 

The Six Fingers serves as an excellent companion series and can stand on its own as a great psychological horror comic. Watters and Kumar take the reader into discovering the psychological mind and reasoning of the murderer through a great curveball of a narrative. The question of why drives the story’s heart, and eventually, Johannes and the reader will discover the reason for the murder as they probe deeper into the unknown.

Story: Dan Watters Art: Sumit Kumar
Color: Lee Loughride Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Story: 8.8 Art: 8.8 Overall: 8.8 Recommendation: Read

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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