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VITIATORS
Reality and manga meld as one under the influence of a grinding meta-feud between a once beloved mangaka and his outraged fanbase. Expat Press presents Vitiators by Elytron Frass and Charles N.: a satiric metafictional atrocity in graphic novel form. Vitiators openly invites its readers to become complicit in the psycho-delic celebration of its gore eroded exploits and offenses.
250 pages, Paperback
Published July 29, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 8, 2022
A masterpiece of visual transgression.
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February 17, 2023This was awesome. Although I should say, I am not, er, well-versed in Manga or whatever it is. I did learn to read via Archie comics as a kid. I also figured out that you could remove Betty & Veronica's swimsuits (in any of the many beach-themed stories) with a pencil eraser and color them back in with a peach crayon, using brick-red or salmon for the nipples and black or goldenrod for the bush (depending on whether you were operating on Betty or Veronica). So anyway, yes, I think I enjoyed Vitiators in much the way of an Archie comic that you don't need to doctor up with erasers and crayons. It's already sufficiently titillating. And violent... so very violent.
June 23, 2024
An unrelenting symbolic and visceral attack, Vitiators starts in outright chaos and only gets more chaotic as you go through it.
Lots of gratuitous violence and gore to the point that it becomes completely meaningless. In this way, it ensures it is not taken seriously. On the other, the meanings and symbols inside are closely guarded against the easily scared. And further, those who read it and enjoy it out of animalistic depravity will only fall prey to the sigilic art embedded within.
The insectoid astral queerness that subsumes a significant part of this work is greatly reminiscent of William S. Burroughs. The unsung, apolitical, deeply politically incorrect, and perv genius author of Naked Lunch and subsequent explorations in psychospace.
Embedded in this work of amorality and iniquity is an immovable sense of pity. A cry of mercy and revenge. An unsolved crime. A mind that won't let go.
And while the whole is subsumed in spiritual putrefaction and comic depravity, they only reflect the underbelly of humanity. That which they push down and deny as they hold on to their Bibles. That which they indulge in, creating sadistic hellish scenes of others' suffering their unconscious endeavors in bringing to reality unbeknownst to themselves.
Lots of gratuitous violence and gore to the point that it becomes completely meaningless. In this way, it ensures it is not taken seriously. On the other, the meanings and symbols inside are closely guarded against the easily scared. And further, those who read it and enjoy it out of animalistic depravity will only fall prey to the sigilic art embedded within.
The insectoid astral queerness that subsumes a significant part of this work is greatly reminiscent of William S. Burroughs. The unsung, apolitical, deeply politically incorrect, and perv genius author of Naked Lunch and subsequent explorations in psychospace.
Embedded in this work of amorality and iniquity is an immovable sense of pity. A cry of mercy and revenge. An unsolved crime. A mind that won't let go.
And while the whole is subsumed in spiritual putrefaction and comic depravity, they only reflect the underbelly of humanity. That which they push down and deny as they hold on to their Bibles. That which they indulge in, creating sadistic hellish scenes of others' suffering their unconscious endeavors in bringing to reality unbeknownst to themselves.
September 10, 2023
Vitiators is an incredible and disgusting work of art that I will probably never recommend to anyone. The art style suits this story so well. Every panel is overwhelmingly detailed, like a more chaotic Berserk. It’s got too much sexual assault for me to say I enjoyed it, but it’s certainly an impressive, creative, nauseating art piece.
July 22, 2024
I think I’m about as far from the intended audience of Vitiators as it’s possible to get. I’ve never read Berserk, and I’m extremely picky about my extreme horror. After hearing about this via YouTube, though, I was intrigued enough to give it a shot, and enjoyed my time with it even though I found aspects of it uneven and a bit pretentious (not necessarily a bad thing, as I’ll explain later).
Vitiators’ overarching concept is quite funny. A group of hardcore fans of a manga called Depravers, an in-universe analog for Berserk, become so outraged over its perceived decline in quality (its creator, Sankeigo-san is suffering from figurative and literal burnout) that they set out to commit a radical act of fan fiction that ends up bringing down society. This is all just set-up for the book’s real point, a series of vignettes of life in the debased new world.
Despite its loose through line—the tale of fanfic writer Pontius Prell and his quest to be noticed by Sankeigo-senpai—Vitiators is essentially an anthology, and as usual with that structure, some stories work better than others. Highlights include the first story, of a transgender woman looking for a drug fix, and the lengthy tale of Orphanmaker Annie, whose soul physically leaves her body in order to protect other children from their sex-and-drug-crazed parents. Far from being a hero herself, Annie selfishly just wants her soul back inside herself, no matter the cost to both of them and the world.
Less effective is the rather gratuitous and long story of the hedonistic mercenary Exentera, whose sole purpose is to fuel the downfall of the world as much as possible by distributing drugs, violence, and BDSM. During her section, the book largely abandons its core narrative and becomes a nonstop action scene, which even the creators seem to feel gets out of their control, give that it essentially ends with a deus ex machina.
Vitiators isn’t an easy recommendation. The story and art can both be uneven, and it’s easy to feel which parts writer and artist preferred creating (and they’re not always the same parts). Then there’s the high barrier of entry in terms of what the individual reader can stomach. Personally I found the level of abstraction so great that none of the extreme content was too much to take, but those with different life histories will have different personal boundaries. More challenging than the gore and sex is the language, which seems to have been crafted with a thesaurus always at the ready; I literally had to keep Dictionary.com open as I read. Nearly every review I’ve read mentions the pretentiousness of the language, and while I agree, I also didn’t mind it much. After all, if a story about the debasement of all of society doesn’t merit grandiose language, what does?
I’m glad I followed my curiosity about Vitiators through to its end, even if I found the book itself a little too varied in its quality to whole heartedly endorse. That said, Frass and Charles N do manage to wrap the book up in a very satisfying way, and I love the statement about an author being crucified for daring to give his readers the gift of ambiguity. If you can handle its extreme content and you like art that inhabits that world of ambiguity, then Vitiators is worth a read. If you prefer the clean and tidy, though, you’ll find ifs 250 pages oppressive and paradoxically dull.
Vitiators’ overarching concept is quite funny. A group of hardcore fans of a manga called Depravers, an in-universe analog for Berserk, become so outraged over its perceived decline in quality (its creator, Sankeigo-san is suffering from figurative and literal burnout) that they set out to commit a radical act of fan fiction that ends up bringing down society. This is all just set-up for the book’s real point, a series of vignettes of life in the debased new world.
Despite its loose through line—the tale of fanfic writer Pontius Prell and his quest to be noticed by Sankeigo-senpai—Vitiators is essentially an anthology, and as usual with that structure, some stories work better than others. Highlights include the first story, of a transgender woman looking for a drug fix, and the lengthy tale of Orphanmaker Annie, whose soul physically leaves her body in order to protect other children from their sex-and-drug-crazed parents. Far from being a hero herself, Annie selfishly just wants her soul back inside herself, no matter the cost to both of them and the world.
Less effective is the rather gratuitous and long story of the hedonistic mercenary Exentera, whose sole purpose is to fuel the downfall of the world as much as possible by distributing drugs, violence, and BDSM. During her section, the book largely abandons its core narrative and becomes a nonstop action scene, which even the creators seem to feel gets out of their control, give that it essentially ends with a deus ex machina.
Vitiators isn’t an easy recommendation. The story and art can both be uneven, and it’s easy to feel which parts writer and artist preferred creating (and they’re not always the same parts). Then there’s the high barrier of entry in terms of what the individual reader can stomach. Personally I found the level of abstraction so great that none of the extreme content was too much to take, but those with different life histories will have different personal boundaries. More challenging than the gore and sex is the language, which seems to have been crafted with a thesaurus always at the ready; I literally had to keep Dictionary.com open as I read. Nearly every review I’ve read mentions the pretentiousness of the language, and while I agree, I also didn’t mind it much. After all, if a story about the debasement of all of society doesn’t merit grandiose language, what does?
I’m glad I followed my curiosity about Vitiators through to its end, even if I found the book itself a little too varied in its quality to whole heartedly endorse. That said, Frass and Charles N do manage to wrap the book up in a very satisfying way, and I love the statement about an author being crucified for daring to give his readers the gift of ambiguity. If you can handle its extreme content and you like art that inhabits that world of ambiguity, then Vitiators is worth a read. If you prefer the clean and tidy, though, you’ll find ifs 250 pages oppressive and paradoxically dull.
October 13, 2022
Please check out my more in-depth review over at The Aither, which I linked below.
I actually read this some time ago and did not log it here, shame on me. In short, if you like extreme comics, especially Japanese Ero-Guro, Vitiators is a pretty wild trip that draws influence from a wide range of influences.
Perhaps more importantly, it is pretty f***ing cool hehe. Please read my more coherent thoughts here:
https://theaither.com/2022/09/15/comi...
I actually read this some time ago and did not log it here, shame on me. In short, if you like extreme comics, especially Japanese Ero-Guro, Vitiators is a pretty wild trip that draws influence from a wide range of influences.
Perhaps more importantly, it is pretty f***ing cool hehe. Please read my more coherent thoughts here:
https://theaither.com/2022/09/15/comi...
October 26, 2023
I've never read something so quickly after discovering it on SpookyRice.
After accidentally stumbling on one of his vids, i had to look that comic book up and was intrigued by extreme yet, somehow charming artwork into it and i ended up buying a PDF copy for $5.
Part of me feels like this could be yet another shitty downer extreme comic books such as Crossed, but on the other hand i ended up actually enjoying it.
Sure, the fucked up/abstract parts are still there, like sexual violence and all other forms of depravity and the dialogues here and there can be awfully pretentious, but at least the author knows this and is having fun with it.
On one hand, the artwork here is really well done. In fact, it's all over the place and so detailed to the point where your mind gets bended and you can't even comprehend what the hell is going on.
While on the other hand, if you look at Crossed franchise, you see various authors trying to outdo each other on who makes the most fucked up things everyone has seen, all while neglecting a good story and writing shitty characters. That, to me, is really pathetic.
And it isn't just about the devastating aspects of hellish wasteland. If you look at the bigger picture, you'd see that it is a satirical take on parasocial relationships between fans and artists, especially the entitled ones we've seen from the beginning and the effect it has on the artist.
At some point, some of the artworks aren't meant to be enjoyed by everyone. Some artists make art to speak their piece of mind, break taboos and censorships and provoke debates on things rarely discussed. And i think Vitiators did just that, something that Crossed wouldn't think or even care about doing.
I wouldn't say that i'd recommend this to anyone, as it can be really hardcore. Though, if you wanna go further down the Junji Ito level, by all means, go for it. This is a must have for hardcore readers.
After accidentally stumbling on one of his vids, i had to look that comic book up and was intrigued by extreme yet, somehow charming artwork into it and i ended up buying a PDF copy for $5.
Part of me feels like this could be yet another shitty downer extreme comic books such as Crossed, but on the other hand i ended up actually enjoying it.
Sure, the fucked up/abstract parts are still there, like sexual violence and all other forms of depravity and the dialogues here and there can be awfully pretentious, but at least the author knows this and is having fun with it.
On one hand, the artwork here is really well done. In fact, it's all over the place and so detailed to the point where your mind gets bended and you can't even comprehend what the hell is going on.
While on the other hand, if you look at Crossed franchise, you see various authors trying to outdo each other on who makes the most fucked up things everyone has seen, all while neglecting a good story and writing shitty characters. That, to me, is really pathetic.
And it isn't just about the devastating aspects of hellish wasteland. If you look at the bigger picture, you'd see that it is a satirical take on parasocial relationships between fans and artists, especially the entitled ones we've seen from the beginning and the effect it has on the artist.
At some point, some of the artworks aren't meant to be enjoyed by everyone. Some artists make art to speak their piece of mind, break taboos and censorships and provoke debates on things rarely discussed. And i think Vitiators did just that, something that Crossed wouldn't think or even care about doing.
I wouldn't say that i'd recommend this to anyone, as it can be really hardcore. Though, if you wanna go further down the Junji Ito level, by all means, go for it. This is a must have for hardcore readers.
August 19, 2022
Freaking cool. I knew the illustrations were going to be great before I read it but the narrative and dialogue is perfectly morbid as well. Highly recommend. The creators and Expat Press have something special here.
December 10, 2022
Amazing.
February 4, 2026
[not a review, just an FYI]
VITIATORS is exclusively available here:
https://expatpress.com/product/vitiat...
VITIATORS is exclusively available here:
https://expatpress.com/product/vitiat...
July 14, 2023
For fear of the harm it would do to my soul, I waited a year to read Vitiators after I received it. I did spiritual exercises to prepare myself and, in the middle of a severe thunderstorm I cracked it open.
I have been a fan of Expat Press for a while and I’ve learned that encountering one of their books would mean coming within striking distance of something of high quality which can also hurt you. I have likened it to being mind-mugged on the sidewalk in a bad part of town. But that’s just me. Vitiators was this times ten. It’s very gory and disturbing. The Marquis de Sade would get a kick out of this as omnidirectional torture and organic life sprouting from deep with other lifeforms rending them in two, violently, is just par for the course. I tried to follow a storyline but beyond the idea that a manga creator was infiltrating the panels of a comic, and reality and art were interpenetrating with catastrophic effects, and a female was going through transformations and becoming an avenging Angel character, it was hard to detect the outlines of a definite story. The overwhelming majority of the panels in the graphic novel were filled to their edges with grotesque bloody limbs, tortured children, mutated polymorphous atrocities a la The Thing, and destroyed cities. If you like just looking at images of destruction and chaos for 250 pages with little rhyme or reason, this is good stuff. Some of the panels rose to the level of approximating Clay Wilson’s artwork in their imaginative renderings of orgiastic violence and sexual abuse, but mostly the clarity of what was happening, exactly, was often lost in the lakes of ink. Still, it must have been an impressive amount of work to draw all this.
On the plus side, Vitiators had a lot of energy and put me in mind of middle school study halls where my friends and I drew sick violent cartoons to entertain ourselves. I was going to take the prude route and wag my finger at the images of murdered and tortured children in the book — this is what made me resistant to read the book for so long — but it’s all just marks of ink on paper and I can respect the death metal energy and chaos. I don’t read this kind of thing very often and I like my comics to be slightly more tame shall we say, but I have to hand it to Frass and Charles N. for their goals of pushing the envelope, and Expat Press for veering into comics territory. I’m sure their was a grander design behind the characters and the demiurge symbolism, and I felt at times Aeon Flux was being quoted in homage in some ways, but I felt an extra measure of clarity and fine-tuning was missing. But I’m glad I finally read it. It took too long to come to terms with this. I give four stars for imagination and hard work and transgressive power. It’s not easy to make a comic book, I know, and one that’s this long is really impressive.
I have been a fan of Expat Press for a while and I’ve learned that encountering one of their books would mean coming within striking distance of something of high quality which can also hurt you. I have likened it to being mind-mugged on the sidewalk in a bad part of town. But that’s just me. Vitiators was this times ten. It’s very gory and disturbing. The Marquis de Sade would get a kick out of this as omnidirectional torture and organic life sprouting from deep with other lifeforms rending them in two, violently, is just par for the course. I tried to follow a storyline but beyond the idea that a manga creator was infiltrating the panels of a comic, and reality and art were interpenetrating with catastrophic effects, and a female was going through transformations and becoming an avenging Angel character, it was hard to detect the outlines of a definite story. The overwhelming majority of the panels in the graphic novel were filled to their edges with grotesque bloody limbs, tortured children, mutated polymorphous atrocities a la The Thing, and destroyed cities. If you like just looking at images of destruction and chaos for 250 pages with little rhyme or reason, this is good stuff. Some of the panels rose to the level of approximating Clay Wilson’s artwork in their imaginative renderings of orgiastic violence and sexual abuse, but mostly the clarity of what was happening, exactly, was often lost in the lakes of ink. Still, it must have been an impressive amount of work to draw all this.
On the plus side, Vitiators had a lot of energy and put me in mind of middle school study halls where my friends and I drew sick violent cartoons to entertain ourselves. I was going to take the prude route and wag my finger at the images of murdered and tortured children in the book — this is what made me resistant to read the book for so long — but it’s all just marks of ink on paper and I can respect the death metal energy and chaos. I don’t read this kind of thing very often and I like my comics to be slightly more tame shall we say, but I have to hand it to Frass and Charles N. for their goals of pushing the envelope, and Expat Press for veering into comics territory. I’m sure their was a grander design behind the characters and the demiurge symbolism, and I felt at times Aeon Flux was being quoted in homage in some ways, but I felt an extra measure of clarity and fine-tuning was missing. But I’m glad I finally read it. It took too long to come to terms with this. I give four stars for imagination and hard work and transgressive power. It’s not easy to make a comic book, I know, and one that’s this long is really impressive.
February 10, 2024
This is one po-mo-ero guro meaningless meta-metaphorical phantasmagorical knife-dildoing, orphan-making, Kentaro-cock-worshipping madness-inspiring picnic you should not invite your mom to, I mean, unless she's into that.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews