Next month AfterShock Comics will release Bylines in Blood #1, the first issue of a new series from writers Erica Schultz & Van Jensen, artist Aneke, and letterer Cardinal Rae. Today The Beat has an exclusive preview of the series debut, which follows a former journalist-turned-private eye in a future where truth isn’t just under attack: it’s basically been destroyed.
Here’s how AfterShock describes Bylines in Blood #1:
The future. The very concept of truth has died. Politicians invent their own facts, and independent newspapers no longer exist. In this world, private detectives serve as ronin, searching out the hard truths that people are desperate to keep hidden.
The best of these is Satya, known as Lady Dick, a former journalist turned gumshoe who runs every lead to ground. But Satya has just received her hardest case yet: her old editor has been murdered. Someone wanted him silenced, and the trail points toward the highest bastions of power. To find justice for her friend, she’ll have to put everything – and everyone – she knows at risk.
Back when the series was first announced, co-writer and former crime reporter Van Jensen offered three reasons for why readers should check out Bylines in Blood:
1. It’s a feminist riff on noir!
2. Aneke is one of the best artists out there, and she’s doing killer work.
3. This is a mystery with a big hook. Our hero’s old friend has been murdered, but video makes it seem like the killer was invisible. So who killed Denzin, and why?
Check out an eight-page preview of Bylines in Blood #1, including four uncensored pages exclusive to The Beat, as well as a variant cover for the issue by Juan Doe below. The first issue of the series is set to arrive in stores and digitally on Wednesday, January 5th.
