Back in 2021, comic creator Brian Michael Bendis found a new home for his Jinxworld line of comics at Dark Horse bringing over his old Powers as well as publishing new books such as Joy Operations and The Ones. Today courtesy of THR, Dark Horse announced details for Masterpiece, a new Jinxworld six-issue miniseries which will have Bendis reuniting with his frequent artistic collaborator Alex Maleev. Also along for the ride are colorist Ian Herring and letterer Joshua Reed.
Here’s how the publisher describes the miniseries:
Emma, aka “Masterpiece,” is a brilliant and driven 16-year-old. She has paid for school with her next level inventions and is well-known for her funny and honest webcomics. Then, one day, Zero Preston, one of the most famous billionaires on the planet, confronts her with the truth about her world. Emma discovers she is the only daughter of two of the greatest, most charismatic master criminals of all time. Her parents were the authors of the greatest casino robbery of all time, the greatest museum heist of all time,AND they took Preston for a cool billion… before they disappeared never to be seen or heard from again.
Zero Preston has been looking for payback for years since then and now he finds Emma… who clearly does not have his money. Instead, Zero threatens Masterpiece into pulling a grand, impossible job against his corporate enemy and, in order to pull off one of the greatest heists of all time, Masterpiece fashions a crew of her peers and her parents’ old associates.
As noted by THR, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev have known and worked with each other for over 25 years including an acclaimed run on Marvel’s Daredevil title from 2001 to 2006. Their most recent project, the creator-owned series Scarlet, dealt with some heavy themes about a “corrupt police state and a new American civil war.” According to Bendis, he promised Maleev their next project would be a fun one.
Bendis said:
“I had been talking with Alex, coming up with lots of ideas for characters, then I found a story engine that put them in one universe.”
He added:
“Anytime we’re given an opportunity to work together, we take it very seriously to make sure it’s everything it should be. I don’t want to waste a moment of his time. A lot of thought goes into what we do.
In addition to the main cover by Maleev, variant covers by Tula Lotay and Peach Momoko will also be available, with Momoko’s cover as a 1:10 incentive variant for comics retailers.
Check out covers and preview pages below and look for Masterpiece #1 (of 6) to arrive in stores and digitally on December 13, 2023.
