A dead robotics expert, a mysterious client, and a private detective who probably should have walked away from the job. That’s the trouble brewing in Electric Smoke, a new science fiction murder mystery coming from Image Comics in February 2027.
Writer Jordan Thomas (Weird Work, The Man from Maybe) reunites with artist Chris Matthews (Mugshots, Exorcism Island) for a four-issue miniseries that mixes 1930s detective fiction with science fiction and political intrigue.
The story follows Detective Foster J. Lockidge, who accepts what appears to be a straightforward protection assignment. Unfortunately, his client, an Austrian robotics expert, is murdered before Foster even gets the chance to meet him.
Rather than return the money and forget the whole thing, Foster decides to investigate.
That decision sends him through the streets of 1930s New York, where Nazi sympathizers, suspicious military figures, and dangerous secrets are waiting to complicate an already messy murder investigation.
The city is also preparing for a gathering of the German American Bund, adding another layer of tension to the mystery.
Thomas and Matthews previously worked together on Mugshots, and their latest collaboration draws inspiration from classic film noir and the distinctive comic book storytelling of Mike Mignola, best known for Hellboy.
According to Thomas, the idea began after he saw Matthews sharing character designs inspired by the 1930s. Those illustrations eventually developed into the world of Electric Smoke.
The first issue will feature covers by Chris Matthews, Jacob Phillips, and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, including additional incentive variants.
Electric Smoke #1 arrives in comic book shops Wednesday, February 10, 2027, with digital editions also planned.
For readers who enjoy old-fashioned detective stories with strange science, political conspiracies, and characters who keep digging long after they should have stopped, Electric Smoke has an interesting mystery waiting to unfold.
And when a dead robotics expert is only the beginning of the trouble, you can bet there’s something much bigger hiding behind the murder.
Beam Me Up Scotty
Old punk rocker from Miami who still smells faintly like comic shops and poor financial decisions.
