The Black Monday Murders: Vol. 1

Hickman (East of West) opens the curtain on this tale of a cabal and the trail of bodies they leave behind, all in the service of Mammon. After setting the scene with the crash of 1929, the story moves to various locations in the present, interspersed with “redacted files” that reinforce the atmosphere of conspiracies and cover-ups. Daniel Rothschild, current holder of the Rothschild seat in the banking cartel that controls much of the world’s economy, has been found ritually murdered. The crime calls for the unorthodox skills of Det. Theodore Dumas, an officer who keeps his grandfather’s finger bones in the same drawer as his handgun. Daniel’s death also presents an opportunity for his twin sister, Grigoria, to return from her long banishment and take up the Rothschild seat as well as to seek retribution for both her banishment and her brother’s death. Coker’s noir art style is a perfect match for this brutal story, with the colors provided by Michael Garland leaning heavily on black and red. This is only the first act of what promises to be a grim, skilled drama. (Jan.)