Image Comics’ Syzygy Publishing is launching a brand new series that dives into the underworld of a city in lockdown, and the team behind Netflix’s acclaimed film Trust is part of the all-star creative team. Today we can exclusively reveal your first look at Dark Honor, a new crime thriller set in New York City during the early days of the pandemic, and the series is written by Ethan Sacks (Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, Old Man Hawkeye) and Trust filmmakers Brian DeCubellis and K.S. Bruce. Dark Honor will also feature a stellar lineup of artists creating the interiors and covers, which you can get a preview of below.
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That top-tier art team includes Fico Ossio (Black Lightning, No One Left To Fight), David Messina (Ultimate Spiderman, 3 Keys), Gabriel Guzman (Lady Earth, Predator), Jamal Igle (Molly Danger, The Wrong Earth), colorist Raciel Avila, and letterer JAME, and you can check out some of the initial launch covers below.
The new five-issue series will be Bruce and DeCubellis’ first comics project, and the series started to take shape back in 2020. The story was initially going to be adapted into a film, but a comic series ended up being the perfect medium.
“Dark Honor was born in the earliest days of COVID-19 in New York. As we wrapped filming Trust in March 2020, the city was shutting down, and we wanted to capture that surreal moment. Inspired by neo-noir crime films, we created Rain, a street-savvy hero, and the Hundred Warriors, with Grigor embodying COVID—a relentless, unexpected killer,” DeCubellis said.
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“Dark Honor may be fiction, but its backdrop is real—the empty streets, released prisoners, and desperate scrambles for survival, as an unknown disaster hits New York. Initially written as a screenplay, it felt too raw for film. But with Ethan Sacks’ adaptation, Chris Ryall’s expertise, and an incredible creative team, we’re honored to bring this story to comics,” Bruce said.
“Once I heard K.S. and Brian’s incredible pitch, I knew I wanted to be a part of bringing Dark Honor to comics readers,” Sacks said. “They had me at ‘Hello’—or more accurately, at a modern crime story set in New York City during the earliest and deadliest weeks of the COVID-19 epidemic. Having covered the damage COVID-19 did to my city in 2020 as a journalist for NBC News, it’s been a creative boon to now tackle that place and time as a comic book writer. And with a murderers’ row of talented artists—Fico Ossio, Dave Messina, Jamal Igle, and Gabriel Guzman—it’s only fitting for a book about a row between murderers.”
The official description reads, “For nearly a century, the Hundred have been the strong arm of New York’s underworld. But as COVID-19 paralyzes the city in early 2020, a new force emerges—one that doesn’t fear the disease, only power. A criminal mastermind is mounting his takeover, and unless Rain, daughter of the Hundred’s leader, can unite the last remnants of the fading crime syndicates, the city will fall to a far deadlier plague.”
Dark Honor will hit comic stores on May 28th and is available for pre-order now.
What do you think of Dark Honor? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
