A new crime classic is born in Newburn #1 by writer Chip Zdarksy and artist Jacob Phillips with a back-up story written by Nadia Shammas and artist Ziyed Yusuf Ayoub, with letters by Frank Cvetkovic. The main story is a new kind of crime tale, and the backup is short, sweet, and intriguing.

The first story revolves the murder of a mob boss’s son who stole cocaine from his own family. The police call in Newburn, an ex-cop who now works for the crime families of New York. Using his connections, he’s able to quickly ascertain what happens and confronts the neighbor of the murdered man with a proposition- he wants her to work for him. In the backup, a jewelry store robbery by a group of hazmat-suited men is about to cause a family reunion twenty years in the making.

Zdarsky gives the reader a quick gut-punch of a first issue. He structures the story as one and done to present to readers exactly who Newburn is and how he works. Readers get to see just how good of a detective he is as he quickly figures out everything he needs to know to solve the crime. He gets a call from the murdered person’s mob boss father and tells him off. Once he learns who the murderer is, he secures a deal through the families and takes care of everything. He describes himself in the book as a UN inspector, and that’s the perfect way to describe him.

It’s a great way to layout who he is and what he does. Zdarsky uses the one-and-done format expertly because he realizes just how good it is as an introduction. Sure, there is a hook for the next issue at the end, but a reader can pick up this comic and get a full story. That’s very rare in this day and age, and it works so well for this story. The best part about it is that Zdarsky has created a character and concept that is interesting enough to keep readers coming back just to see how it all turns out next. The backup is different; without the page space, it has to lay out its bait differently. Shammas does this by using most of the pages to layout the crime. There’s very little dialogue, except at the end, and that’s where readers get what’s going to get them coming back. Why did the two brothers stop associating? What’s going to happen next? It’s basically all hook, and it works very well.

Phillips’s art is reminiscent of Michael Lark’s. There’s a realness to it and grit that fits a crime story perfectly. The character acting is top-notch, which is important to this kind of book. It also really completes the feel that Zdarsky is going for. The colors are exceptional; there’s a watercolor quality to them that really makes the line work even better. It also makes the scene lighting look even better. In the back-up, Ayoub’s style depends on thicker lines and an entirely different color palette. It makes the linework a little busier, but it works pretty well for the story.

All in all, Newburn #1 is a great crime comic. Both teams present great stories, and it will be fun to see where each one goes. As far as first issues go, this one does everything right.

Grade: A