A protection job has already turned into a murder before Detective Foster J. Lockidge even gets a look at the person he was hired to protect. He could walk away and return the fee, but apparently that is not how Foster does business. Electric Smoke sends him into 1930s New York to find the killer, mixing hardboiled detective trouble with a science-fiction mystery when the four-issue miniseries launches from Image Comics on February 10, 2027.
Writer Jordan Thomas and artist Chris Matthews are teaming up again for the book. Thomas’ work includes Weird Work and The Man from Maybe, while Matthews’ credits include Mugshots and Exorcism Island. Their new collaboration starts with the death of an Austrian robotics expert, which gives this case a pretty interesting intersection of period crime and technology before the detective has even found his first lead.
Foster was brought in by a mysterious client for what he thought would be a protection gig. With the expert dead, he decides to hit the streets and track down whoever is responsible. That choice drags him into a world of Nazis, questionable U.S. military operators, dangerous women and revelations with consequences beyond the case itself. The city is already tense over an upcoming meeting of the Nazi-sympathizing American Bund, so the investigation is unfolding against a volatile historical backdrop.
Thomas says the project began after Matthews posted character designs with a 1930s feel roughly a year ago. Seeing that work convinced him they needed to tell a story in that era. From there, he brought in his love of classic noir movies and their shared appreciation of Mike Mignola, building a setting where the atmosphere and the twists could feed each other.
The writer describes Electric Smoke as their best collaboration yet, praising the look Matthews is bringing to the series and the world they have built together. Matthews, in turn, calls Thomas’ story a fun and original approach to the classic noir detective tale. Have a look at the official pages below and you can get a sense of the visual direction for yourself, from the street-level investigation to the science-fiction machinery threaded into it.
The first issue has six announced cover options. Cover A is by Chris Matthews, Cover B by Jacob Phillips (Everything Dead & Dying, That Texas Blood), and Cover C by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (Our Encounters With Evil). Cover D is a 1:25 Matthews incentive, while Cover E is a 1:50 virgin variant by Phillips. Cover F is a D’orc Team-Up variant by Matthews.
Electric Smoke #1 arrives at comic shops Wednesday, February 10, 2027. The series will also be available through Amazon Kindle, Google Play, Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Scribd’s Everand, Kobo, Overdrive, Hoopla, Sweet app and Comic Plus. Follow Image Comics for updates, and ask your local shop about the specific cover you want.
Crusaders, a detective trying to salvage a failed protection job is already a solid way to get the trouble rolling. Add a murdered robotics expert, a client keeping secrets and a city full of people who would rather the truth stayed buried, and Foster has himself a case. Check out the supplied covers and five-page preview as Thomas and Matthews prepare to open it in February.
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