Unbelievably, we only have a few issues left of Vertigo’s Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery. This series has been a lot of things the past few months: noir story, pulp adventure, mysterious artifact horror, and one of my favorite titles to review. These different tones and vibes have meshed together in away that makes Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips’ series feel really unique, but with Peril of the Brutal Dark #5 the adventure and mystery behind the Brutal Dark hits a fever pitch, and the pulp influences can be felt from page one, panel one.
As Ezra Cain makes his way to the top of the Brutal Dark’s headquarters, he hitches a ride on their zeppelin. Full of the mysterious Automatons and advanced Nazi weaponry, it’s here that Huber and the Brutal Dark are preparing to launch their plan against the United States with the Anvil of Hephaestus. As they make their way towards the Empire State Building, Cain desperately tries to stall their plans, but one man can only do so much when he’s surrounded by human and robotic enemies, and as the anvil is struck, signaling the doom of America, he makes his escape on their biplane, the sound of the anvil striking through the night.
One of the inspirations I clocked early on in Brutal Dark‘s run was Indiana Jones, and that feeling of classic adventure is in full force with Chris Condon’s script for this issue. There’s a lot of thrilling action and tense moments throughout the issue, but what struck me the most was how well Condon relieves the tension with a well timed quip from Cain. The moment he attempts to put up a fight against the automaton only to immediately stand down when he notices a second one behind it got a big chuckle out of me, and the way Cain has a witty retort in the face of danger feels very in line with the good Doctor Jones. The use of a classic Nazi scientist with technological and occult weaponry is also really in line with the best of Indiana Jones type adventure, complete with the villainous monologue from Huber that wouldn’t feel out of place in something from the time period.
DC
While the dialogue is good in this issue, Brutal Dark #5 is really Jacob Phillips’ issue to shine. Like other issues before it, Condon wisely knows when to hold back and let the art do the talking, and Phillips really builds a sense of grandeur and scope to the opening pages where Cain is sneaking onto the zeppelin. The giant reveal of the zeppelin is stunning, and the continued use of dark blues outside the blimp and vibrant oranges and reds inside of it creates an unnerving feeling of being somewhere we are not supposed to be. This, combined with the already great physicality of Phillips’ figure work, makes Brutal Dark feel like a book that was published decades ago and uncovered for modern audiences, and adds to the uniqueness of the series when compared to other books on the shelf.
If there’s one strike against Peril of the Brutal Dark #5, it’s that it’s over far too quickly. With just one issue left, it’s expected to have the pace quicken a bit ahead of the finale, and while I would have liked a little more back and forth between Cain and Huber, the story overall has been one that’s been really thrilling and exciting, an old school pulp story that is true the roots of the genre, yet unafraid to update things for the modern age. We’ve got one issue left, so strap in and hold on.
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