This was a lovely and exciting graphic novel. I'd actually like to find a physical copy for my personal library.

Parasocial, a new graphic novel from Image Comics, is Stephen King’s Misery for the TikTok era. A fan kidnaps her idol. And in the process, we consider fandom's exploitative, transactional nature.

Writer Alex De Campi has history-making exploitation comics with her excellent Dark Horse series, GRINDHOUSE. And she previously collaborated with Erica Henderson on their Blaxploitation-homage DRACULA MOTHERF**KER! I loved that book, with its moody pastel pallet. It seems the pair developed a working rhythm because *Parasocial* is a standout work for both creators.

Unlike its celebrity protagonist, Luke Indiana, Parasocial is not just surface-level good looks. The work wonders a provocative question: why might a fan deserve revenge on her idol? The introduction uses a montage to show all the people at the fan convention and the scope of the event. For a moment, the focus is on one crying person offering a deeply revealing confession.

Fandom is a pay-to-play. You belong to the community as long as you can afford to belong to the community. You can’t be a fan if you can’t afford the new thing. Fan conventions and costumes, merch, signings, and photographs cost money. This background character is getting into five figures of credit card debt so she can see her friends and pretend to be a cat.

Something disconcerting is going on here. When our celebrity protagonist, Luke Indiana, is tied to a chair in his #1 fan’s kitchen, he asks why he should remember her. She points to her bulletin board. I count five pictures of Luke and Lizzie together, so they met five times, hugged her, and each time, she probably paid $100 to get those photographs. That’s $500 for five minutes of his time.

And despite that, the fans persist. They dream of a chance with their celebrity crush, but this book coyly points out that it will only happen if the celebrity is hogtied and kidnapped. Is it any surprise Lizzy’s filled with rage? The way stars treat the people who make them rich is similar to a master and servant.

While short, every panel counts, and I immediately reread it. I loved this book. I should kidnap the creators and tell them so! It’s out now from Image, so get it from a comic shop or online retailer.

Thank you, NetGalley and Image Comics, for providing an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read this so unbelievably fast, that I was heartbroken it ended so quickly. I was extremely upset, even with the very cool explanation and epilogue at the end, that we did not see more happen between Luke and Lilly. I wanted to REALLY see Luke go through it, even though I was terrified of her. I also equally disliked him. This is the ONLY reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5, it was too short and leaves you wanting 500 more pages.

From other reviews before I decided to request this, I expected something a lot more dark and gritty. And although it is messed up - it was not anything crazy. It has disturbing themes, focused on social dynamics. And actual blood, violence, and death. But it was not unnecessarily gory. I greatly enjoyed this, even if I overestimated that it would be a gorefest, because I felt like too much of this would've taken away from the main point of the story. Parasocial relationships. There is a telling part when Lily sees a scar on Luke, and knows him so intimately that she is able to say the scar came from a Appendectomy. Except it didn't, something that drives home the point that she doesn't know him. And never will, because not only does she not personally know him - but he's a consistent liar. I also LOVED seeing the 'simp gone crazy' angle come from a male victim perspective.

The art in this is incredibly well thought out, down to the color schemes of the panels. The fine details, like blurring/double lines when a character begins to lose consciousness. I highly recommend reading the author's note/epilogue, because it further helps put everything into clearer context. Something that made me love this novel even more. It's a necessary read in a day and age of consistent parasocial relationships, and their dangers.

Thank you so much to Netalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this amazing novel!

I really enjoyed the artwork in this graphic novel, unfortunately the story left something to be desired. It started on a high note and then steadily declined from there.

Anyone who's ever participated in fandom culture will get a real kick out of this book.

It follows a washed up actor as he goes to a convention but afterwards has a run in with a rather enthusiastic fan.

This book is brutal, the colouring and style is bold and brash but it works. I enjoyed the lack of subtlety, we know realistically what's going to go down so let's just go with it. There's a couple of twists though.

I wanted more, we got bits of Luke's background with rounded out his character more & I wanted the same treatment for Lily.

A fun thriller I'd definitely recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Image Comics for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Parasocial is a graphic novel based on every celeb’s worst nightmare; a dangerously obsessed fan! This thriller ends as soon as it begins, so no need to brace yourself for any twists or turns. Grand opening, grand closing! Much (if not all) is left to be desired, so I won’t attempt to summarize the bits of this story. Artwork is this books best asset.

Fantastic art style and blend of social media, there is no doubt that the illustrations were of such a high quality but I felt like the storyline went by too fast. It gave me Misery vibes which I really enjoyed so I just wish this was that little bit longer and fleshed out, as I don't think the suspense built up enough and wish we also got more of a background on Lily.

A solid idea, and absolutely gorgeous art. I particularly loved the way multiple panels were used to convey additional meaning in the story. The story did feel a little too short for a proper sense of urgency to build, which does remove some of the aspect of the story as a thriller. The ending, consequently, also felt rushed. I also would’ve loved more of an insight into our antagonist Lily. However, my favourite panel in the entire story is one of the final ones, again emphasising how beautiful the art here is. The protagonist, a washed-up has-been and a douche, was surprisingly entertaining as a main character, and you end up routing for him almost despite yourself. In addition, I particularly liked how modern aspects of fandom are interspersed through the narrative, e.g. AO3 and Instagram.

Overall, a solidly entertaining read, one I wish was longer. I believe pretty much every negative aspect of the story could’ve been ironed out that way.

Received from NetGalley in return for a review. I enjoyed this book. While the story isn’t a very new one and reminded me of Misery, Stephen King mentioned in passing was a funny tidbit, I enjoyed the reworking in the frame of modern social media. While our ways of connecting are different and give the illusion of being closer, the closeness is still an illusion. I enjoyed the art style and changes in style to accent the story. I felt the story could have had a bit more depth. It was a little predictable. I would have enjoyed more of the social media snips actually. Maybe more illusion to Lily before the main story.

Loved the MC representation! The subject matter is increasingly important as we growing more and more reliant on social media.

This graphic novel was good for what it was, but beyond that, it wasn't much more.

I really enjoyed the convention aspects and inclusion of many fandom-esque pieces, but it was very short and I hardly had time to breathe before the next major thing occurred. None of the characters felt fully fleshed out and were very superficial. I get that the novel wanted to be on the nose, but some kind of mystery or twist or anything outside of the direct plot would have been welcome.

There were aspects I did love, but overall I feel like there could have been so much more.

This was an interesting take on a well-known conceit. It was a good read for spooky season. A fun and gripping story.

Luke Indiana is an aging star, making his rounds on the convention circuit based on his famous role on a science fiction series. Despite his dislike of his own fans, one fan decides to take their love for Luke to the next level and kidnap him. Thus begins a horrific game of will between a star and his biggest fan.
Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson have created a great work examining the relationship between celebrities and their most devoted fans. It takes the modern unhealthy online relationship to the extreme and gives a modern update to Stephen King's misery. The art is gorgeous and throughout the book there is a playlist you can listen to while you read. I do wish the book was longer, cause I was enjoying it so much until the book had to wrap up quickly towards the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for a copy of Parasocial in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, when I requested this graphic novel, I didn’t know what it was about, but wow did it not disappoint. I started out reading it and pretty soon I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know what happened to the protagonist.

I love the artwork in this story. The colors reflect the mood of each scene perfectly and the format of the panels makes it very easy to read and compliments this tell of horror very nicely.

This was really interesting! The concept was great, but the execution was lacking. I wish that it had a more drawn out and complete ending, but i really enjoyed this otherwise!
At some points it did feel like reading a storyboard.

Parasocial has a great concept with some seriously flawed characters. However, I read the ending multiple times and still could not completely flesh out what happened. Everything moved at breakneck pace, and the author did not give the reader time to really feel attached or horrified by the ensuing events. The use of color and different songs to show emotion was well-done. Unfortunately, there seemed to be more explanation of what the author wanted to accomplish than what they actually did accomplish.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the authors Alex de Campi & Erica Henderson for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. While Anderson does a great job with illustrations, panels, color palettes, and art style it doesn't compensate for the fact the story is rather lackluster. There's nothing added or to be said about fandom, parasocial relationships, and stalking that isn't already out there. There isn't anything unique about this graphic novel that makes it stand out compared to other works that deal with similar themes and subject matter. The characters are shallow and one-dimensional leaving the reader with little imagination for their interiority besides brief background stories.

✨E-ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review✨
This was a quick, jarring read that gives the vibe of Stephen King’s Misery, in a more modern, stan culture comic con setting.
The devolving art structure to portray increasing panic, stress or pain is effective and helped to give a lot of pace to the story.
However I’m not super attached to anyone, and because of that it felt like reading the finale to a long running show without any of the previous context.

My only complaint about this would be that it's quite short and could have been expanded a bit more. I love the bits of ambiguity at the end of the book and the art is phenomenal.

Misery for the fandom age. This graphic novel was brilliant--punchy, horrifying, gorgeously illustrated, and so authentically rooted in modern fandom culture that I regularly wanted to squirm out of my skin. I don't think I will ever recover from the psychic damage of an AO3 screenshot being employed so immaculately for visual storytelling.

Many thanks to Image Comics, NetGalley and the authors for the eARC!

Oh, I was NOT expecting THIS! Wow! Okay, while the creators say that this isn’t about any particular celebrity, I would highly recommend this to anyone involved in or who vicariously watched the Supernatural fandom. There’s a lot of parallels that could be drawn between the fictional show “Rogue Nebula” and early Supernatural. I’m sure someone could find a more suitable match in the real world, but this is what immediately hit me.

Our main character is Luke Indiana, once a hot-ticket sci-fi actor, now lucky to get hired onto a web series. Also, his wife just told him she wants a divorce. Also also, one of his fans just abducted him and is ready to recreate Stephen King’s “Misery.”

Despite being the clear victim here, Luke isn’t flawless. While he’s a good actor, he can’t hide his disdain for his fans. Covid protocols seem more a convenience for him, as we often see him unmasked around people, but gladly standing behind a glass barrier for photo ops. He’s there for the money, not the fans, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, acting is a job, like any other. But we see genuine revulsion in his face several times, and it become obvious that each fan isn’t a random person, they’re a meal ticket.

Granted, his captor doesn’t treat him as a person, either! Lily, our antagonist, definitely wants to enact some of her fantasies on the helpless man. We even see a mental screenshot of a spicy fanfic on AO3 (thank you so much, Campi and Henderson, for making it AO3!), and I get the impression she isn’t just the reader, but the writer.

I could see this book being poorly received by the younger part of fandom who is still deep in their own parasocial stage. Teens, early 20s, when they’ve not had to watch a few falls from grace already. But, being in my late-30s and having gone through the fandom wringer, so much of this was relatable. The overinvolvement in a celebrity’s private life, the awkward convention questions, the creeping right to someone’s face. It felt a bit too real. And that’s why I loved it!

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.