Panorama by author Michael Fiffe
Panorama is a graphic novel that could be described as a body horror romance. Certainly not the most popular genre but it’s honestly one of my all time favorites. What can I say, I like my romances dark and twisted. Anyone who is surprised that there are numerous examples of body horror romance must be woefully unaware of the films of David Cronenberg.
For the unfamiliar, body horror is a subgenre of horror that uses the human body to create the fear. This may be done through transformation, disfiguration, manipulation, evolution, devolution, or torture. The most popular kings of body horror are David Cronenberg and Junji Ito. I’m huge fans of both.
Body horror makes fear come from within. You see something as familiar as the human body becoming grotesquely changed in disturbing ways and that hits home far more than many other horror genres. Anybody can picture themselves changing. And anybody can understand pain and not liking what they see in the mirror. Horror is scariest when it’s actually relatable.
Since Panorama is a graphic novel it is very likely to be constantly compared to the manga works of Junji Ito. There are similarities, both have a similar black and white art style and both explore character development through physical changes.
Panorama, however, is definitely a romance graphic novel as well. It’s not straight horror in the traditional sense and that really sets it apart. It follows two individuals along their romantic journey as they become completely physically entwined with one another.
This is romance at its most extreme. That passion of youth that causes one to get lost completely within another person. Its drawn in the literal interpretation and is quite shocking to look at. This is definitely a graphic novel for adult audiences only. Graphic sex, violence, and nudity are present on these pages.
The drawing style is quite simple but effective. The storytelling and dialogue leave a little bit to be desired but the overall effect is clear. Graphic novels frequently choose to show more than tell anyway.
I hope that current body horror fans will give Panorama a try and welcome author Fiffe into the community. I hope he continues to develop his style and grow as an author and artist. I also hope that individuals who have yet to venture into body horror will see the beauty within the story of Panorama. Not all body horror is just gross for the sake of being gross, it can mean something!
Regardless of which audience you’re in Panorama is a hidden gem of graphic novels for adults. It’s original and vastly underrated.
4/5 body parts 🫁🫀💪🦶
For more body horror check out the ultimately disturbing Geek Love
in order to keep me up to my ears in books please consider using the following amazon affiliate link to purchase this product. it’s at no extra cost to you and would really help me out, thank you and happy reading!
Buy it here: Panorama
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