Comics: Psycho Path #3 - Reviewed



Psycho Path issue three is the latest and final chapter of Michigan native writer Stefani Manard’s psychological horror series, published by Scapegoat Press. In issue two, we are introduced to a mysterious character, Mary, known as the Angel of Death, a woman locked up in a criminal mental institution after she was arrested for countless murders taking place in a hospital setting. 

In issue three we get a first class ticket into the past and psychotic mind of Mary. This issue allows us to see Mary as a young child, struggling to feel normal, struggling to feel anything at all, while dealing with desires and urges she has yet to fully understand. We see the story of a child born with a condition that she cannot make sense of, which torments her day and night, begging her to surrender to her darkest impulses. Seeing a child give into such a depraved compulsion is extremely harrowing and the mood is captured perfectly in Ms. Manard’s writing. She conveys each emotion, whether it be pain or frustration or even relief in such a way that you as the reader will even find yourself sympathizing with Mary. There is humanity created in a story where you would expect there to be none. I had the pleasure of catching up with Ms. Manard and asked her what her inspiration was for creating a story like Psycho Path and her reasoning was one I believe all of us can understand, especially those of us, like myself, who are fascinated in what makes people tick. 

Psycho Path is inspired by my fascination with what makes people do what they do. I of course do not condone the behaviors that I write about, but the reasons why are what lie at the basis of this limited series” she stated during our conversation. 

Psycho Path 3 reads like a vibrant, twisted, exciting true crime book. Though the characters are not inspired by any one real life criminal, we can see pieces of truth in her writing about the minds of those plagued with psychopathy. 

The art, done by Paul Gori, is bright, ethereal and definitely has a bit of a fantasy aspect to it. His style, in my opinion, particularly for the characters, seems to have almost an anime or manga quality about it, which really works with the story. The contrast that the almost whimsical art has to the darkness of the storyline works so well in making this eye-catching story such a success. Creating a dark, sinister character who appears dark and sinister physically is something that is extremely common in horror style pieces, so the idea of a story with a depraved murderess who has the face of an adorable child just makes the tale even more chilling. Gori has captured the essence of the tiny Angel of Death’s twisted psyche through his art with the perfect level of detail on every page. 

Any fans of psychological horror or even simply true crime aficionados will definitely want to pick up a copies of the Psycho Path series for their collection. Ms. Manard will be debuting Psycho Path #3 on February 9th at Astronomicon in Sterling Heights, Michigan, where she will have a limited number of copies at her booth. The comic is also slated to be released on the Comixology website in March. 

-Rachel Rutherford