Killing (comics)

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Killing is a fictional character featured in a series of an Italian photocomics of the same name. The book was entitled Satanik in the French edition. Sold as "Photostories for Adults", it ran for 19 issues in 1965, and was published by Ponzoni and editor Pietro Granelli.

Killing is a vicious criminal, totally without mercy. Wearing a black and white costume styled on a human skeleton, he slaughters other criminals unrepetantly, often stealing their once-stolen loot. He crafts masks from a flesh-like substance to imitate his victims. Killing's methods are brutal and sadistic, and the lurid covers and stories often feature him attacking, torturing, and murdering scantily clad women.

Supporting characters include Killing's lover Dana, the only person who knows his secret identity, and Inspector Mercier, a determined police officer who always just misses catching and detaining Killing for his crimes.

The character of Killing was inspired by several previous characters from French and Italian pulp fiction, including Fantômas, Diabolik, and especially Kriminal. Killing's books, however, were far more violent and sexually explicit than those of his predecessors.