Lucas Short, a black detective in 1920s LA, is haunted by his time in World War I. Not only is his past difficult to deal with, but his present isn’t especially easy either, given the challenges presented by early 20th century views on race.

Though he and his partner, fellow African American cop Michael White, are assigned to a random, seemingly pointless job, things spiral out of control very quickly, and they’re soon in over their heads.

This first issue of City of Demons does a great job of kicking off the 12-part series, with writer Parker Newman, along with artist Ezeh Kingsley, giving it a great sense of time, place and character; protagonist Lucas Short is particularly well defined in no time at all, for example.

It’s breathlessly paced too, opening at war and then quickly bringing us up to speed in the ‘present’, with just enough time for us to get to know the challenges faced by the main characters before the action kicks off once more.

The black and white art is moody and appropriately noir-esque too, with a really dynamic feel to its action.

It’s a fantastic opening chapter, and there’s a shocking cliffhanger that’ll make you want to get your hands on the second issue immediately.

You can pre-order City of Demons #1 from Blood Moon Comics here. Many thanks to creator Parker Newman for providing me with the first issue for review purposes.