Swierczynski’s Countdown

Publishers Hard Case Crime and Titan Comics have appear to have gone all in when it comes to the joint production of graphic novels for regular readers of crime, mystery, and suspense fiction. They’ve already given us such series as Quarry’s War from Max Allan Collins, Triggerman by director Walter Hill, Peepland by Christa Faust and Gary Phillips, and Normandy Gold by crime authors Megan Abbott and Alison Gaylin; and this summer they’ll bring out a four-issue comic-book series, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of Spillane’s birth.

Now we can also look forward to Breakneck, a graphic-novel series penned by Duane Swierczynski (Canary, Revolver, Fun and Games, etc.). As Shotsmag Confidential explains, this will be a “gritty countdown crime thriller set in modern-day Philadelphia,” focusing on “a white-collar Everyman [who] is reluctantly forced into a race against the clock as he attempts to thwart an impending terrorist plot. Following an angry confrontation at a seedy no-tell motel, Joe Hayward is thrown headfirst into the middle of a frightening terrorist plot to bring Philadelphia to its knees. With less than two hours to thwart the attack, Joe is going to need all the help he can get … including that of the government agent his wife may be sleeping with!”

The Shots blog adds that “Breakneck is illustrated by Simone Guglielmini (Near Death), Raffaele Semeraro, and Lovern Kindzierski,” with Issue No. 1—due out in August—featuring a cover illustration by London-based freelance artist Fay Dalton.