With the revival of DC’s Vertigo imprint, everyone is wondering if the publisher can rekindle one of the best imprints in the history of comics. Vertigo was home to all kinds of genres, from horror to crime to dark comedy, and the new line of books seems to be slowly matching that original aesthetic. With The Peril of The Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery, The Enfield Gang Massacre team of writer Chris Condon and artist Jacob Phillips reunite to introduce us to private investigator Ezra Cain and his latest case. What we get with Brutal Dark #1 is a fantastic introduction to a character that feels very lived in and engaging, and a mystery that promises darker secrets to be unveiled.
Fresh off his latest cast, Ezra Cain is once again on the hunt for work. After getting a call from the museum to his personal residence, he heads out to to scope out the details of the job. On the way, he comes across one of his former police pals, and agrees to take on a case as a favor to him, knowing it’ll come in handy later on. The police officer’s neighbor has gone missing, and his wife suspects foul play. Cain doesn’t think much of it, but when he learns that the husband worked at the same museum that’s called him, he puts it aside to see if there’s any connections. After meeting with collections director James Sweet, Cain learns that the newly fashioned Greek exhibit is missing one of its crown jewels of the collection: the anvil of Hephaestus. Fabled to have dark powers, it was targeted by Hitler during World War II until it was found and brought to the states. With it and his friend’s neighbor missing, things are starting to form a picture in Cain’s mind. And when he returns to his office to find the wife of his missing friend there mentioning something called “the Brutal Dark” and how it took her husband? Well, things just got a whole lot more interesting for Ezra Cain.
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While that may seem like a lot happens in this book, Chris Condon’s script makes all of these events breeze by in a brisk but engaging fashion. There’s a clear love for old pulp mystery novels throughout Condon’s script, and the way he doles out exposition behind Cain and his former life is a real masterwork in character introduction. The sense of foreboding dread is also apparent from the first few pages, as Condon flashes back to the discovery of the Anvil of Hephaestus and potential power it can hold over others. The jump forward to 1941 New York is a bit of an unexpected change, but the way we follow Ezra Cain makes him an immediately interesting character that I can’t wait to see more of, especially when he already has a knack for getting in over his head.
Jacob Phillips’ art style adds to the feelings of dread in this opening chapter, but he also takes the time to show off some truly ripping action sequences as well. Condon knows when to step back and let Phillips’ art do the storytelling, and the panel layouts and character positioning of Phillips’ pages are incredibly well done. There’s few books out there this year that have balanced gunfights, car chases, and moody dark archeological digs, but Brutal Dark has all this and more, and it all fits under Phillips’ pencils. This is a book that oozes style with every page, and Phillips really goes for the noir pulp throwback look while also keeping a modern flair with his art for this series.
The most impressive thing about The Peril of the Brutal Dark is how self-assured it is from page one. It mixes the adventure of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the moodiness of Sandman Mystery Theater, and the old school detective work of Dick Tracy into something new, and I can’t wait to check out what Condon and Phillips have planned for the next part of Cain’s inaugural mystery. If they can meet the potential they are promising, we could have an all-timer Vertigo mystery on our hands.
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