In this review of I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1, we meet Rennie Bethary, an aspiring fashion designer with some…interesting hobbies.
I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1
Written by Doug Wagner
Art and Main Cover: Daniel Hillyard
Variant Covers: Daniel Hillyard, Jae Lee
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: April 2, 2025
I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1 begins with Rennie’s entrance interview for the school, juxtaposed with a flashback of her killing a would-be rapist in an alley. She tells the dean about why she wants to attend, shows her portfolio, and he’s particularly drawn to a leather-like material contained within, harvested from her victim. She’s aware that maybe that’d expose her as a murderer…but after a bit of thought, she’s accepted to the school.
On day one, she promises herself that she won’t kill any of her classmates while she’s there. She also meets a few of the other students: the friendly, extroverted Sofie, and the stuck-up rich jerk Constance being the two big ones. Sofie’s immediately drawn to Rennie’s homemade leather jacket, while Constance seems to equate that with just being poor and that dislike starts right away.
During lunch, a few things come to light: Sofie works for a food delivery service as a means of paying her way through school, Rennie tends to scratch herself when she’s agitated in any way (say, nervous, annoyed…), and Constance is extremely classist. Rennie gets Constance to stop giving Sofie a hard time about her bagged lunch by giving her an unsettlingly specific compliment about her skin. When Sofie’s boyfriend Bodhi shows up, Rennie walks away, seeming to have issues with men.
A few weeks into the term, Rennie’s wondering if she should go back on her promise. But while initial target Sofie started out as being almost annoyingly clingy, she’d sort of grown on her. Constance, however… Also, the midterm assignment is introduced: 30% of the grade, the design will be judged by the entire class, and the winner gets a 6-month internship at a major designer’s. It’s mentioned that Constance usually wins these things.
Rennie has a plan for dealing with Constance, stalking her a bit after class…when she sees a better target in the security guard harassing her. Once he’s alone, she stabs him. As I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1 ends, Rennie ultimately goes through with the rest of the plan: remove the skin, drain and soak in the blood, and keep the urges at bay as she muses on a later attempt to deal with Constance.
Right away with I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1, I was drawn in from the title. The combination of fashion and murder is always fun to see. And the fact that fashion is just so connected with Rennie’s murderous activities is an excellent creative choice, not to mention the practicality of it. Between the leather material she works with and the hand-carved hair chopsticks made of bone, and the literal bloodbaths, she already has a means of disposing of some of the bodies.
Rennie as a character is a fascinating one. How long has she had those urges? And there’s the apparent issue she has with men. It’s one thing to take down someone that’s being outwardly creepy toward another woman; one could probably argue that to be vigilantism.
But Bodhi, as of yet, hasn’t shown any outward signs of being that way and was nothing short of affectionate with Sofie (and vice versa). It makes me think that something happened with a guy sometime in her past that’s colored her perception of all men later down the line. Which adds a little something extra to her interview with the dean, where she’s doing her stress-scratching right there in the first panel. Stress from the interview itself, or is part of it from the fact that she’s alone with a male and that’s setting something off in her?
The characters in I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1 look like they’ll be a compelling group to keep up with. Sofie’s established as an absolute sweetheart, who’s determined to put up with both a demanding work schedule and a demanding school to get where she wants in life. That combination can easily exhaust someone to the point where they’d snap, but so far, I’m not sure I can see that happening with Sofie. I do wonder how she’d react when the truth about Rennie’s activities comes to light, of course. The idea of calling the police on her best friend would likely be a huge conflict for her.
Then we have Constance, your quintessential rich jerk. Every story needs some sort of antagonist, and in I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1 she fits the bill like a well-tailored suit. With her constantly winning class contests, it makes one curious about what sorts of designs she creates. Also curious about how she’d be likely to react to the truth about Rennie later on (theories so far: cops, blackmail, surprisingly chill upon hearing about why some of her targets needed to die).
The coloring in I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1 has an appealing softness to it, fitting the fashion school setting. The characters’ outfits, as well, reflect the characters they belong to pretty well. Rennie’s are dark in nature, for the most part. Sofie’s give off a soft, approachable vibe. Constance’s outfits bring about a preppy attitude. For a comic set in a fashion school, to ignore the costume design aspect would be an absolute sin, and they’re doing great with that part so far.
Final Thoughts
I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer #1 is a twisted little delight, filled with killer style and a good amount of blood.
