His name is Norman, he’s eight years old, and he’s the eponymous psychopathic killer starring in an ongoing graphic novel series authored and illustrated by Stan Silas and published by Titan Comics.
Like the twisted offspring of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and Chucky–he’s got the red-and-green striped shirt to go along with the mask and kitchen knife slasher villain combo–Norman stalks his victims in a storyline and setting that’s equal parts Scream meets South Park, complete with a myriad of pop/geek culture references and callbacks to B horror movie tropes. And yes, there’s even one kid who dies in horrible ways but then miraculously is brought back to life.
Needless to say, much over the top violence and black comedy ensues as the seemingly harmless lad whose only “family” is his fridge-raiding zombie uncle begins to pick off his elementary school classmates, a cute purple devil dude always hovering nearby to offer advice and snarky comments like an evil Navi. Even when Norman is caught red-handed, masked up ready to plunge his knife into somebody’s face, no one, not even his intended victim, takes the looming threat seriously, so he just continues to get away with murder bloody murder like a pint-size Patrick Bateman.
Surprisingly–given the fact that his name is the title of the series and all–Norman’s presence wanes from time to time. He’s consistently the focal point in the first book, but as Vol. 2 progresses his leading role seems to diminish to the point that for stretches of the second book I almost forgot he was around. When he’s not front and center, the petty bickering and schoolyard politics of his classmates, drunken misadventures and love life drama of his crazy bitch teacher Miss Jameson, brief cutaways to the daily life of a pudgy cat named Pompom (he’s something of a school mascot I suppose), and some batshit insane subplot about a mad scientist cloning his deceased wife back to life fill in the gaps.
There’s almost too much going on to be honest, to the point where the plot becomes a bit scatterbrained. But in the end the chaos and randomness, and the clash between chibi cuteness and blood-spewing horror homage, is what makes Norman such a treat.
Norman is currently available in two volumes of a little more than 60 pages each, with a third volume, according to a teaser page at the end of Vol. 2, set to debut in March 2016. You can buy Vol. 1
Disclosure: Hardcover copies of Norman Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 were provided to VGBlogger.com for review by Titan Comics.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
