Image Comics presents Weird Work #1, an all-new four-issue miniseries combining detective fiction with heady psychedelic sci-fi to create a crime epic like no other. Penned by Jordan Thomas, with art and colors by 2000 AD veteran Shaky Kane and letters by LetterSquids, Weird Work #1 explores the seedy world of Stellar City, a futuristic capital dominated by crime and corruption.

Weird Work #1 opens on a political assassination gone awry. The local mob boss takes the fall for the massacre. The resulting power vacuum unleashes a crime wave like no other, catapulting Detective Sawce into a world of gangland killings that claims the life of his police partner. Probing the highest echelons of Stellar City society, Sawce is determined to solve the case, although everyone around him has secrets of their own.

Weird Work #1 is a powerfully imaginative and inventive work. Thomas merges the conventions of hardboiled detective stories with the verve and worldbuilding of a sci-fi comic with incredible flair and verisimilitude. The combination feels fresh and creative, unlocking a new perspective on one genre through the unique lens of the other. Thomas's world-building is also very organic, his writing incisive and well-considered enough to require minimal exposition. The world is explored through the characters' dialogue, which is witty, acidic, and chock-full of personality. The variety of different voices and cadences that shine through the writing is deeply impressive. Thomas builds his characters with lightning-fast efficiency. The pacing of the comic is great, and the weaving of plot threads is deceptively subtle and leaves the reader with a lot to pay attention to. The characters are well-established, cleverly mired in crime fiction archetypes in a way that reinforces the density of the world and gives Thomas space to subvert readers' expectations.

Kane's art is central to the appeal and unique charm of Weird Work #1, working in thick decisive lines that carve out a novel visual experience. The comic is dominated by highly stylized off-the-wall aesthetics with a major pop art influence, creating bold character and background design that almost lifts off the page with its audacious immediacy. The content of the comic, revolving around murder, drugs, and violence, feels grittier for the vibrant and playful style that brings a tongue-in-cheek feeling to the whole affair. The character design deserves specific praise. Kane demonstrates a boundless imagination and impressively high standard of execution.

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Kane amplifies his eccentric art style with vibrant tones that arrest the eye and draw out the daring and bawdy tone of the comic. The unnatural lighting creates a sense of drama and atmosphere. LetterSquids provides great letters throughout Weird Work #1, doing great work with unconventionally soft and rounded newspaper fonts and more generic dialogue design. The use of emboldening and italics creates a natural rise and fall in speech that builds rhythm and adds to the many comedic beats. Different word balloon designs give individual characters distinct voices. Furthermore, the occasional use of red and enlarged lettering adds a sense of dynamism.

Weird Work #1 is an absolutely sublime story, told with an engaging tone and a gleefully brutish sense of humor. Taut with a rare intensity, Weird Work #1 is more than the sum of its already impressive parts, elevating the traditional detective narrative and the sci-fi dystopia into a new beast altogether. Visually bombastic, thematically complex, and acerbic enough to yank a few surprised laughs out of any reader, Weird Work #1 is a miniseries to watch.