Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics, we can exclusively reveal Masterminds, a satirical new series by writer Zack Kaplan (Kill All Immortals), artist Stephen Thompson (Star Trek: Year Five), colorist Thiago Rocha (Sister Imperator), and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (The Witcher: The Bear and the Butterfly). Debuting this August, the five-issue comic revolves around a secret society in Silicon Valley, and the desperate lengths some will go to to join their numbers.
When an ambitious and troubled video game programmer dares to audition for a secret society in the gaming/tech industry, composed of cutthroat, genius masterminds that promise to help their members achieve their wildest dreams, he and his rebellious co-worker find themselves in a gauntlet of real-life puzzles that quickly turn deadly. Are they truly smart enough to survive the mysterious game of the Masterminds?
Kaplan states, “We live in a fast-moving, cut-throat world where the rules have changed. You can’t just work 9 to 5, pay your dues, be a good person and expect to get ahead. We all know it, after years of watching one another work so hard for so little. Nobody respects work ethic and quality. The deck is stacked against you, against us all. To win the game of business, the game of life, you have to get on the inside. That’s when doors just open for you. But to get on the inside, you have to join. And to join, you have to play the game. Prove your intelligence and your character. Stephen, Thiago, Hassan and I had the chance to join Masterminds, and it’s changed our lives. But I can’t really say any more. Except, I hope you have what it takes. And I hope you’re ready.”
Thompson, who previously worked with Kaplan and Rocha on Dark Horse’s The Midnight: Shadows, adds, “As an artist, I’m all too aware that Big Tech is poised to eat the world and automate away our creativity. So, the last truly inventive people are turning to the all-to-human arts of conspiracy, collusion and cunning to get ahead. The smart ones are, anyway. If you want to join us, the first step is admitting you’ve been played. But the Masterminds are here to offer you a second roll of the dice, and a chance to risk it all for the life of your dreams.”
Masterminds #1 will retail in comic book stores for $4.99 on August 27, 2025. It will have a main cover by Thompson, plus variants by Aaron Campbell (John Constantine: Hellblazer: Dead in America) and Bjorn Barends (The Witcher: The Bear and the Butterfly), which you can check out before the book’s release below. You can also check out more art in a teaser trailer released yesterday:
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