As an editor, sometimes you find writers who you just know are your type of, uh, writer.

You know because you can throw any weird idea at them, and they come back with, “I think I’ve got something on that.” And then they actually do.

That’s what happened with Christos Gage when, a few years back, I mentioned one of my odd little fascinations to him. I have quite a few, as it turns out. But for some reason, at this point in my life, I was intensely fascinated with things that go wrong with brains.

Not sure what prompted this minor obsession. I’ve never had a serious head trauma. Maybe I was going through some kind of mental crisis. It wouldn’t be the first time. Or the last. But that’s a blog post for another day.

You gotta admit, the subject is fascinating. All that you are, your memories, your dreams, your hopes and desires, your neuroses and your virtues, your grandiose schemes and your dirty little secrets -- they’re all imprinted on this three-pound glob of gray, spongy stuff that sloshes around in your skull. What happens when something goes wrong with that big glob of goo you call your brain? If your brain changes -- you change too. Can it make you a different person? Can it make you -- better?

That’s what I said to Chris. And I knew Chris was my type of writer when he came back with, “I think I’ve got something on that.” And then he actually did.

What he had was AREA 10, the newest graphic mystery from VERTIGO CRIME, in stores today (April 7). AREA 10 is a police thriller with a rapid fire pace and a tightly wound plot -- exactly what I expected from Chris, given his resumé writing for some of TV’s most successful cop shows.

But even better, AREA 10 (the title refers to a specific section of the human brain, naturally) explores what transpires when a hard-nosed homicide detective in New York City suddenly gets his brain all messed up -- in a particularly chilling way. Does he become a better cop, or just a stranger one? And what if he isn’t the only guy in this burg with the same brain modification? What if the bad guys got it too?

There was no one better than Chris Samnee, a master of light and dark, to illuminate this tale. His art on AREA 10 is mindblowing. (See what I did there?) So, if you have a brain, I think you’ll find AREA 10 as fascinating as I do -- and maybe after you read it, my odd little obsession will become yours.

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