Whether you’re a fan of supernaturally tinged detective noir or just enjoy comics from talented creative teams, there’s plenty of reason to be excited for the upcoming graphic novel Hard Bargain. This new book pairs Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight with artist Leno Carvalho (Dean Koontz’s Nevermore) for a gritty and spooky mystery set in a demon-haunted version of 1940’s Los Angeles.
With Humanoids’ Kickstarter campaign for Hard Bargain now live, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of this graphic novel. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:
The creative team on Hard Bargain also includes colorist Bruno Hang and letterer Troy Peteri.
Hard Bargain is a noir thriller set in 1940’s Los Angeles. It focuses on a private detective named Frank Harding, who makes a living simultaneously hunting down ordinary criminals and clashing with demons. But Frank may have bitten off more than he can chew with a case that ties back to his own past and touches on the city’s history of racism and discrimination.
“Raymond Chandler, the godfather of hardboiled detective fiction, once famously wrote that ‘down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man.’ I read those three sentences when I was a teenager back in the 80s,” DeKnight tells IGN. “They always stuck with me and eventually became the foundational pillars that I built the character of Frank Harding on. A two-fisted, flawed private eye who absolutely will not stop until he gets to the bottom of a mystery – even if it means unearthing painful memories of his own past.”
Hard Bargain also has a fan in none other than The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke, who writes, “Oh man, I’m a sucker for supernatural noir. Tough-talking P.I.’s and double-crossing dames, along with demons, magic and monsters, both the inhuman and human kind. Steven DeKnight’s Hard Bargain, loaded with hairpin turns, crackling dialogue, humor, horror, and tragedy, is one of the best versions I’ve read. James Ellroy meets Stephen King, with a healthy splatter of Sam Raimi.”
The Kickstarter campaign for Hard Bargain runs until July 25, with the book due for release later in 2024.
In other comic book news, the Legacy of Kain franchise is finally returning in the form of a prequel graphic novel, and IGN has an exclusive first look at the new TMNT spinoff Nightwatcher.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
