THE PERIL OF THE BRUTAL DARK: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1

Creative Team – Chris Condon, Jacob Phillips, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Published by DC Comics

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The Story

DC’s Vertigo continues with a bang with The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 and they aren’t pulling any punches. The story follows Ezra, a private investigator who gets the results he wants by any means necessary. As well as an investigator, he also has an extensive background in archeology, which comes in handy with his newest client.

Ezra’s new client tells him that a very important artifact has gone missing from the Museum of Natural History and it’s imperative that it’s found. If someone were to get their hands on the artifact, they would have the nations under their control. To make things even worse, Ezra isn’t the only person looking for this artifact and those other people are out for blood.

Chris Condon brings a grounded story that has you hooked from the first few pages and keeps your eyes on the comic until the very end. What I really appreciated was learning so much about the characters and this new world, while keeping a feeling of a looming mystery over the story. I can’t imagine what happens next, but I’m very excited to find out.

The Art

The artwork of the comic matches the tone of the story perfectly. Jacob Phillips brings the story to life with perfectly capturing the grittiness energy that makes it feel very grounded. Phillips does a fantastic job with juxtaposition in contrasting colors that makes each page a gorgeous work of art.

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou handles the lettering and creates a beautiful flow of dialogue throughout the comic. What I really appreciate about Otsmane-Elhaou’s work here is that he was able to perfectly portray the dialect and slang that most had in 1941, which added a great depth to the comic.

Final Thoughts

I found The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 to be a breath of fresh air amongst all the superhero hype in the comic book world. I am very excited to see where this story goes!

Overall Grade – 9/10

Let me know in the comments what you thought of The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1!

This review was written by Megan from the Vigilante Vibes Podcast. If you liked my review, be sure to check out my other reviews! Let me know what you think of The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Story #1, or tell me what comics you’d recommend me trying out! Find me on my socials, and check out my Marvel podcast, Vigilante Vibes, by clicking here!