The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1
Series premiere · Cover A by Jacob Phillips · first printing · DC Vertigo · Collect Forever Soft Slab
25 February 2026
Original first-print Cover A of The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1, the February 2026 DC Vertigo launch by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. Set in New York City in 1941, the series introduces private investigator and former archaeology student Ezra Cain, whose search for a stolen artifact tied to Hephaestus draws him into a conspiracy involving the shadowy Brutal Dark.
Read the catalogue note →- Issue
- #1
- Publisher
- DC Comics / DC Vertigo
- State
- Collect Forever Soft Slab; not numerically graded
- Condition
- Near Mint appearance, provisional and ungraded inside Collect Forever Soft Slab.
- Completeness
- Complete under the standing TMR accession rule. The comic is enclosed in a Collect Forever Soft Slab; no missing issued component has been reported.
Catalogue note
Original first-print Cover A of The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1, the February 2026 DC Vertigo launch by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. Set in New York City in 1941, the series introduces private investigator and former archaeology student Ezra Cain, whose search for a stolen artifact tied to Hephaestus draws him into a conspiracy involving the shadowy Brutal Dark. This copy preserves the principal Jacob Phillips launch cover in a Collect Forever Soft Slab before the issue's second-print bibliographic branch.
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Jacob Phillips
Cover: Jacob Phillips
Edition: Cover A · first printing · original release
Why this object matters
Condon and Phillips’s historical detective launch is meaningful evidence of the revived Vertigo programme and their collaboration. The principal cover preserves its original presentation, but a later printing and new-character introduction do not support the former outstanding 8.8 score.
Evidence limits: Complete under the standing TMR accession rule. The comic is enclosed in a Collect Forever Soft Slab; no missing issued component has been reported.
Score and assessment method
Archive Importance: 7.8 / 10.
This is a curatorial judgement, not a measurement accurate to one tenth or a market valuation. Read the explanation and its evidence limits together.
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Recorded contributions · 3
- Chris CondonWritingCatalogue credit
Writing credit: Chris Condon Original catalogue credit
Find other objects with this contribution → - Jacob PhillipsArtworkCatalogue credit
Artwork credit: Jacob Phillips Original catalogue credit
Find other objects with this contribution → - Jacob PhillipsCover artworkCatalogue credit
Cover artwork credit: Jacob Phillips Original catalogue credit
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