The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 Review

 

Writer: Chris Condon

Artist & Colorist: Jacob Phillips

Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Cover Artists: Jacob Phillips, Tula Lotay, Hayden Sherman & Sean Phillips

Connecting Variant Cover Artist: Álvaro Martínez Bueno

Foil Variant Cover Artist: Jacob Phillips

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $3.99/$4.99 Card Stock

Release Date: February 25, 2026

 

When the gods hurled Hephaestus to Earth, he made a new home on the Greek Island of Lemnos. There, he forged the weapons of the gods. In 1913, an archaeology team discovered a temple buried by time. Inside its ancient confines, they found a treasured object. What is the Anvil of Hephaestus? And centuries after Hephaestus used it, does it still hold the power to make weapons worthy of the gods? Let’s grab our hammers, leap into The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1, and see!

 

Story

Ezra Cain works as a private detective in New York. While he helps clients obtain their missing property, he’s sufficiently savvy to ensure they pay his invoices. Nor is Ezra averse to a bit of action when necessary. So, when a situation escalates to a shootout, Ezra can protect himself while taking down the aggressor.

 

In November 1941, America had not entered the war in Europe. But the drums were beating. Fascist leaders like Hitler and Mussolini have set their sights on world domination. Time has hardened Ezra Cain. He knows the costs of war. And like Rabbi Jakob Cohen in Gotham, Ezra knows that not everyone welcomes foreigners to American shores. But when a friend from his days in the force asks Ezra to help someone in need, the former police officer agrees to see how he can help an immigrant in The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1.

 

After a preface showing the 1913 dig in Lemnos, Chris Condon rockets to November 1941. His story immerses readers in this fragile period when people attempt to protect their way of life by shunning outsiders. Ezra is a likeable gentleman who plays his cards close to his chest. His experience prompts clients to seek his services for a variety of reasons. But in The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1, a client seeks Ezra’s aid because of the archeology expedition on Lemnos, and his connection with the discovery of a priceless artifact connected with the gods.

 

Art

As distant figures gather on a hill, one rappels into the darkness amid a stream of sunlight. Torches illuminate wall carvings, while fire applied to the right place reveals a temple filled with Greek columns and stone soldiers. Twenty-eight years later, birds fly past the Empire State Building. Yellow windows link a nearby apartment building with the glowing Art Deco masterpiece. A hat brim casts a gun-toting man's features in shadow as an older man pounds on a door. But when sudden action hurls the hat from his head, blond strands rebel against the man’s oiled-back hairstyle.

 

Jacob Phillips’ thick lines and limited palette lend The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 a film noir feel. Purple, yellow, pink, and beige accompany a fast-paced action scene. Yet red splatters people and nearby objects when the battle turns deadly. Framed photos on his desk greet the private detective when he returns home the next morning. Despite his fierce spirit, age has taken its toll on the former police officer. As yellow light streams into his red bedroom, Ezra pulls off his jacket before an arched window. And instead of staring out at the iconic New York skyscraper, Ezra lies on his bed.

 

Black uppercase letters that grow bold for intonation fill off-white balloons. Raised voices and heightened emotions enlarge words while deforming balloons and arrows. Smaller lowercase letters accompany lowered voices and may appear as off-white letters against a dark background. While giant letters locate us in time and space, sound effects explode across nearly every page as Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou ensures readers “a piece of the action.” Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.

 

Final Thoughts

War is in the air, but so is magic when a former college professor recommends Ezra for a difficult case. It’s one for which the private detective is well suited. While it seems destined to bring him into contention with world leaders and perhaps the divine, all Ezra knows is that a woman needs his help. And in an era when people distrust anyone associated with the chaos unraveling in Europe, the gumshoe may be the only one who can help her in The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To look inside see my preview of The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1.