Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, Kevin Storm, markosia, Robert Randle, Serial Artist

Serial Artist – Far More Than Just A Whodunit Murder Mystery

Published Wed, 05 Mar 2014 17:00:05 -0600

Robert Randle writes for Bleeding Cool:

Let me be honest with you. I want you to read my book.

Bleeding Cool has asked that I use this space to write something personal, and if I'm going to do that then of course I want to try to write something compelling… and the only thing that's ever really compelling is truth. And the truth is I want you to read my book.

I can probably conjure up any number of reasons why I think you should read my book, some of which might actually work on you if I was lucky. I could play to your intellect or tempt you with the prospect of being "ahead of the curve", perhaps even prey upon your sympathies a bit; but no matter what I might say, the reason I'm saying it is that I'm trying to convince you of something.

Now, I can speak the language of Marketing, I've even done my fair share of it in the past, but I've always found it somewhat distasteful, and as a practice inherently disingenuous. Though I don't think the term "artist" is a one anyone can ever comfortably self-apply, I do believe that artists (at least good ones) attempt to use lies to reveal the truth. And while I do view Marketing as an art form, I feel often enough it is one that instead uses half-truths to tell half-lies, and always wondered how deceiving each other helps us as a species… Now, I'd never be so bold to claim advertising has never worked on me (perhaps by definition how could I even know?) but I have always felt skeptical any time someone was marketing to me, and so I'd expect no less than that same level of skepticism from you as you read this.

This is my first published work; I have no pedigree to back it up. Now, I've worked in and around the comics industry long enough that if I shared my CV with you, I think you'd probably agree I know a good book when I see one, but none of that means I know how to actually write a good one. None of us will learn that until this book finds an audience, and so here we are. I really believe (and want you to believe) that artist Kevin Storm and I have created something worth reading. Something that took on a life of its own to become something greater than either of us could have accomplished on own. Something that became more than the sum of its parts…

On the surface, Serial Artist is a crime story about a self-alleged serial killer who has claimed to the world that the subjects of his gallery paintings are his murder victims and that the clues necessary to solve his crimes are hidden in his artwork. As expected, the world goes crazy in response. But Serial Artist is far more than just a whodunit murder mystery, the story is really about the people who are affected by the artist's claims… from the scandal-hungry media that devours every detail, to the distraught families of his alleged victims, and of course to those who are intent on investigating him… everyone gets pulled into this web, and is changed by it. Who knows, maybe it'll change you too… though you may not thank me for it. What truths do exist beneath the surface of Serial Artist are ineluctable, dark, and ugly.

Please believe that is the real truth of why I've struggled with every line of this article, I'm consumed by the paradox of attempting to market to you while still trying to maintain some shred of integrity (even though I admit I just used no less than three adjectives in the previous sentence, which should be a dead giveaway). Just know the grim lessons I personally took away from the Serial Artist haunt me with the consequences of trying to do anything less than face the ugly truths about myself without fear. Others who've also read our graphic novel report similar experiences of being haunted by the themes of the book, which I find intensely gratifying and equally humbling. There's always more to tell, but anything left to say about Serial Artist should be said by someone else, because the reality is that allowing anything but my work to speak for me (which includes other interviews, press releases, and the like I've done beyond just this article) counts as just and exactly that: Marketing.