The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1: Detective Comics Return to DC

While DC may have started as Detective Comics and its flagship series may be called Detective Comics, DC hasn’t published actual comics about detectives for quite some time. DC’s romance comics have become superhero romance comics, its horror comics are now superhero horror comics, and a handful of its superheroes are detective-flavored when the story calls for it. Enter The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery. 

The Peril of the Brutal Dark is the creation of Enfield Gang Massacre writer Chris Condon and artist Jacob Phillips, here joined by letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Peril follows the roguishly charming archaeologist-turned-police-officer-turned-private-eye Ezra Cain as he tries to find a missing man and equally missing (possibly magical) artifact. Peril is part of DC’s recent relaunch of Vertigo, an indie comics publisher DC absorbed only to replace it with the Mature-rated superhero line DC Black Label. Now, Vertigo will publish DC’s non-superhero-related fare, a welcome breath of fresh air to those comics readers who have felt superhero fatigue setting in. The series sports a mature rating, but were comics graded like orange juice, Peril’s cover would no doubt say “lots of pulp.” The story exists at a strange and exciting intersection between Maltese Falcon-style noir and Spielberg’s Indiana Jones. The first issue devotes most of its time to introducing its protagonist, but offers plenty of intrigue and a series of compelling hooks. 

Artist Phillips commits to the extreme chiaroscuro of noir in a way rarely seen in comics. Strips of light cast through window slats abound. Phillips’ restrictive color palettes, dominated by golds, blues, and sepias, give the comic a jewel-like and unified “period” quality.  Otsmane-Elhaou’s lettering shines throughout, but especially in the comic’s incorporation of old newspaper clippings, which further solidify the sense of time and place.