Written by Bryce McLellan
Art by Silvio dB
Colors by Louie Joyce
Letters by Sean Rinehart

A mysterious time travel event known as the Verge had brought thousands of people from across all of history to New York City. Vikings, Samurai, Romans, Mayans, Cavemen, and thousands of others all live in a vast and turbulent melting pot. Connie Liu, an NYPD Detective, investigates the murder of three Samurai, a case which threatens to turn the divisions in the city into all out war.

Holy genre mash-up Batman! We’ve got a detective story, inside of a sci-fi time travel story, inside of an action adventure story, inside of a fantasy…Viking story?! Wow – this story rocks you from the start and doesn’t stop throughout the issue. The biggest mystery of the story doesn’t even get mentioned in the story until about a quarter of the issue in, but that does not even matter because you are drawn into a dramatic story about Vikings and their honor on page one. Flip a few more pages and you’re in an NYPD office talking about solving cases and getting promotions.

When The Verge, the thing that caused all of these people from across history to be brought to present day New York City, is finally addressed, we find out that our protagonists, Connie Liu and her partner Lucy, know about as much as the reader: nothing. Did I mention this is also a mystery? Add one more to the genre mash-up.

Our protagonists are badass female detectives who get work done and are good at solving cases. They feel real and three-dimensional, and they have sensible motivations. Some inspiration for these characters may be pulled from buddy-cop dramas, but these characters take on a life of their own. Even Ravi, the tagalong for a day and the son of the police commissioner, has enough revealed about his character in his limited page time to reveal some of his character and why he is wanting to become a detective.

The creators succeed in the challenge to create a new world and leave the reader feeling fully immersed in just one issue. The history knowledge that comes dripping out of side comments and behaviors of characters from different eras is apparent and well appreciated from a history nerd who always wants to learn more!

The art for the characters is very well detailed even when including scenes of the many unique characters living in New York from many different time periods. I love the action sequence/fight that happens at the end between Connie and *SPOILERS* and how the colors are used in the backgrounds and lettering. As the first issue comes to an end we get left with not just a plot twist, but a cliffhanger that has me sure to be back for issue 2!

Finally, I must note something about the lettering. Something that really seals the deal on how awesome this book is. The temporally displaced have fonts chosen that really match their origins very well. This is especially apparent in the two-page spread outside of the police precinct where we get an incredible visual of some of these temporally challenged individuals. This time, noticing the letters is not just a good thing, but an amazing thing. Hats of to you, Sean Rinehart.

Rating 9/10

Verge #1 is out at comic shops September 29th!

Cover A (JUL211889):

SDDC Exclusive Cover (https://www.red5comics.com/variants/verge-1-sdcc-exclusive-cover)