Slash Them All

by Antoine Maillard, Jenna Allen (Translator)

2022 WINNER for Best Crime Graphic Novel at the Angouleme International Comics Festival
Two high school students are found dead, stoking fears amongst the student body and surrounding community of a serial killer on the loose. Yet summer is approaching, and the future is fraught with uncertainty—if only things could go back to normal for just a while longer. Instead, the heightened police presence prevents Pola from dealing at school while her best friend, the typically discreet Daniel, resists increasingly morbid impulses. News crews speculate about the Bloody Batter, triggering PTSD and fueling paranoia. Meanwhile, evil has its own plans.


Slash Them All is cartoonist Antoine Maillard's tribute to 1980s American horror cinema, skillfully absorbing the traditions and tropes of the genre, yet drawn in a gorgeous, grayscale pencil style that evokes 1950s film noir more than Jason or Freddy Kreuger. This singular work of graphic fiction is a story about adolescents thrust unexpectedly, unwillingly, and unpreparedly into adulthood, told with a graphic acuity and emotional depth that transcends its simple slasher inspirations. 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Comics, Bande Dessinée, Fiction, Crime, Graphic Novels Comics

152 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2021

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 1980s slasher films forever left their knife marks on film culture, movies that got away with the quality of the film being judged by the level of shock and bloodshed more so than the acting or story. Movies you’d watch when you were certainly too young to have seen them and your dad pretended he didn’t notice as long as you didn’t wake your parents up when you were absolutely certain someone was standing outside your window on the next stormy october evening… These are the vibes French graphic novelist Antoine Maillard brings to his debut Slash Them All, a loving tribute to the slasher genre with flavor notes of David Lynch and film noir to help bring out the uneasy tone of the story. Entirely grayscale pencil artwork that plunges the reader into the shadows, Maillard is best at creating an atmosphere that makes you feel like low swelling music is creeping out of the pages and an uneasy tension is roiling in your guts. It all explodes out of the mundanity of a small American town where drug traffic and poverty run rampant, and police are unsure if it is a serial killer wielding a bat to execute his teenage victims might just be another random violent occurrence. Slash Them All is a fun slasher story with great art that never can quite rise above it’s own genre, being a quick thrill without much reason to think about it later beyond the lurking terror of the dark and strangers.

Small town sadness

While the atmosphere is pitch perfect in Slash Them All, the plot needed a bit of breathing space. Especially in the middle. There’s some great ideas going on, but most feel a bit thin. Don’t expect much explanation, Maillard keeps much a mystery, but the focus on the creeping dread does really carry the story through to the conclusion. We have characters living broken lives, the two focal characters both feeling stifled under their mother’s, and the interjection of a serial killer—the ‘bloody batter’—is almost treated like another nuisance in their world instead of a real threat. The story does have some thrills and plenty of kills, though a sexual assault scene felt a bit gratuitous though the goal is clearly to make the world feel like as grimy and threatening of a place as an actual serial killer. Still not into that being sort of tossed in though. It is unsettling at all times though, and the growing dread with Daniel fighting against violent urges keeps the tension always at the tipping point.


Murder!

The art here is fantastic and I really enjoyed the framework that makes the action come to life really successfully. This had all the feelings of a good slasher film, though does leave me a bit cold but then again most slasher films do as well (a few tweaks and this would be a great film however). This made for a fun spooky season read and is certainly a loving and successful tribute to the slasher genre.

3.5/5

[Sara the Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

You're a serial killer! I'm a serial killer! We're all serial killers!

Pretty jazzy artwork but fuck me if I had any idea what was happening here.

[mark monday · Rating 1 out of 5]

French author Antoine Maillard writes and draws some kind of story that is apparently trying to combine the teen slasher genre with noir tropes. This is small town America viewed through a misanthropic French eye and the results are somehow both laughable and grueling. Mon Dieu, the implicit condescension of the author, the lack of empathy. Très irritant! These aren't characters, they are human shadows on a page. This isn't a story, it's a sketch. There isn't an ending, there's just more nothingness. Apparently a mysterious and brutal killer armed with a baseball bat isn't sufficiently unnerving; may as well throw in some animal mutilation and a Mrs. Bates-level repressive mom for one of the supposedly sympathetic teen protagonists. Oh and how about a set-piece featuring a gratuitous gang rape. One might ask: to what narrative end is this sympathetic supporting character drugged, stripped, and victimized? What was your rationale, author? Je ne sais quoi, he replies with a gallic shrug. Such are American lives. Quelle horreur!

The killer felt ripped off from the infinitely superior Paranoia Agent, which dealt with similar themes of alienation and repression and projection. Plus baseball bat.

The celebrated black & white pencil art is fine. Certainly effective in creating a noir mood. Blobby faces though.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawn in atmospheric black & white, with a cinematic style, this is a horror graphic novel that, judging by the styles and technology, seems to take place in the 1990s.

The presentation was amazing, but I doubt I was the only person who closed the book with some unresolved questions that the story just seems to leave up in the air.

Content notes: In addition to the obvious slasher/serial killer storyline, readers may want to be aware going in that this book also contains both a sexual assault plotline and animal cruelty within the story.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firmly a style over substance experience but also it’s so stylish and cool that I’m like who needs substance anyway.

Also this guy draws great noses, which I appreciate.

[Fei · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Les planches et l'ambiance Slasher sont vraiment très réussies mais en comparaison j'ai trouvé le scenario assez fade. (Et quelques TW, notamment pour la scène de viol auraient été bienvenus je trouve…)

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book blind, but I ended up really digging it. It's dark eerie and has total 80s slasher vibes. Teens start getting brutally murdered in a nice beachside town, and the town descends into chaos. Three friends, each with their own secrets react to the deaths of their classmates in different ways, but really they just seem to ignore it. It's not like their going to be murdered. But when more people end up missing, Pola sees something she can't unsee. Evil really has this town in its grips and she is helpless to do anything about it. Or is she? Fantast illustrations. I really enjoyed this graphic novel.

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 2 out of 5]

El dibujo es brillante, con una narrativa que transmite la tensión y viñetas que son dignas de enmarcar, pero el argumento me parece bastante flojo. Los personajes están bien construidos, pero la trama es previsible y el final decepcionante.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is GORGEOUS. The cover alone had me wanting to read it since I had seen the announcement that Fantagraphics was publishing it last year, but it took me until today to find a copy. I wish I could say it was worth the wait: although the artwork in this book is stunning graphite pencil drawings, the story was just underwhelming. If the art hadn’t been as great as it is, I would’ve only given the book 2 stars. Not really worth reading, but certainly worth looking at if you stumble across this book.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A confusing, somewhat messy slasher, with some pretty good art.

Basically a small town, a murderer is killing teens, and got a bunch of fucked up kids from a drug dealer, a loner, a girl being drugged and plenty of murdering. It's weird, sometimes doesn't make sense, have to re-read pages to get the context, but entertaining at times. Art is always solid, sometimes amazing. A 2.5 out of 5.

[Clementine Hetherington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there was going to be more purpose or meaning. Like, who was the baseball killer and why was he doing it? And Laura getting r*ped added nothing to the story, she again didn’t have any impact like I thought she would have. That was ick. I did enjoy the overall vibe though.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Breve historia de terror a lo slasher ochentero. El dibujo está genial pero el argumento es flojito. No sé porque le han dado un premio porque la historia está más vista que el tebeo. Supongo que será por su dibujo. La trama es confusa y el final no sé si nombrarlo como final porque no entendí nada.

[Dan Poblocki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this one is a “take a step back and soak in the vibes” kind of book. It doesn’t give pat answers. In fact, it drives you straight toward the cliff’s edge, then hits the gas. I can’t imagine people liking this, which is why I loved it.

[DonJulio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Des dessins et une atmosphère de toute beauté dans un style qui rend hommage aux Fifties et à Hopper.
Côté scénaristique en revanche, c'est mouais... des adolescents débauchés et/ou paumés. Un serial killer qui rôde. Classique.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eerie with a gorgeous cover but also what was that even about?

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading a couple of bad reviews about this one, I went to it with very cautionary expectations.

The book starts off immediately in a big way with a scene where idiotic ignorance meets raw cruelty.

I really love the art. It's very dynamic, panels vary from very simplistic to extremely detailed depending on the tone the artist wants to give to the scene.

So what is the story about? Even though it's mainly about a serial killer on the loose, it's much more than that. The author shows us several characters, some more relevant than others but all have this evil side, some stronger than others.

The author paints a picture of a city full of corruption and sin. Not all sinners are inherently evil. Some are just born among the filth and are trying to crawl out of the shit hole.

It's hard to say more without spoilers but I really love the story and how it is presented.

It's not surprising that it's an Angoulême's winner.

All that said, it's definitely a heavy story. People read to escape the cruelty that is the real world so maybe most are not in the mood to find that same cruelty in a book.

Regardless of the reason this book is not getting a good general praise among the readers, I found it to be extremely good.

I definitely recommend it if you can handle a dark story.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Minor point, the title "slash them all" doesn't work so well when the killer's using a baseball bat. Yes, I get that it's a tribute to all those 1980s psychos slashing up teens, but still.
Despite its award, this didn't work for me at all. We have teenagers doping, drinking and smoking, the mystery man with the baseball bat shows up to kill them but midway through nothing about this had engaged me.

[Mathias Chouvier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellente première BD d’un illustrateur de génie qui dessine l’intégralité de son œuvre au crayon à papier et signe quelques planches à couper le souffle. Ambiance lynchienne et vaporeuse pour ce slasher/thriller qui explore les sentiments adolescents avec justesse et poésie, en dépit de la violence du récit.

[Natalie Arn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good atmosphere, 1950s film noir meets 1980s slasher horror. I almost wish it had been a little longer, to explore certain ideas further, but for the relatively short length the characters were all interesting and (in some ways) relatable. The killer's "gimmick" felt just like something an actual '80s B-movie slasher would use.

[Tom Garback · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️
Critical Score: C-
Personal Score: C-
Reading Experience: 📘📘📘📘📘(5/5)

I loved the art here, though Maillard struggles with facial expression. The story is cozy but incredibly stale and occasionally hard to follow.

[Chris Barsanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deadly beautiful and atmospheric. Just waiting to be made into a sublimely creepy and subversive horror movie.

[Olivia Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A visual feast. The kind of horror I relish — dreadful, dark, and unsettling. Excellent.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich Tomaso meets Adrian Tomine. I never really got which characters we should identify with.
Hoping for something super weird but kind of stalls out.

[Evilblacksheep · Rating 1 out of 5]

Actual rating: 1.5 stars

I've been going back and forth between giving it a one or a two stars, so I'll settle on a 1.5
That is only due to the pleasant art style, because content wise, we are looking at a big ball of almost nothing. The story is pretty generic and doesn't even get a proper conclusion, the characters are pretty hollow and some things are inserted there only for shock value but add nothing to the plot anyway. I was pretty disappointed by this after reading some above average critics of it. At least it was a pretty fast read considering there is not much dialogs either. Very dispensable.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork alone elevates this from 2 to 3 stars for me. I love the atmosphere and the many panels without text, building a feeling of suspense.

Suspense for what exactly though? This graphic novel could have been twice the length; it reads like an introduction to a much longer piece. Too many unresolved threads left a feeling of lack. Love Pola though. Needs a sequel to fully flesh out all the plot points.

[Sylvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'aime beaucoup le dessin de ce roman graphique. Le scénario est parfois un peu léger.

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the 80s slasher vibes and the art. The storyline was a little choppy.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

emprunté à la bibli par Léa… Peut-être n’aurait-elle pas du…
wtf + tw : viol

[Léa B · Rating 2 out of 5]

ça a escaladé rapidement comme on dit
en dehors du style de dessins que j'ai aimé c'était assez wtf
tw : viol