The Smart Division #1 — Zack Kaplan and John J. Pearson reunite to investigate the FBI's first AI crime unit
There's a special kind of magic when creators who click together come back for another run. Zack Kaplan and John J. Pearson shared that spark in Mindset!, and now they're bringing it to Dark Horse with The Smart Division. This debut is a detective thriller that feels immediate and urgent, set just five minutes ahead of our now.
The setup is tight: a mysterious predictive AI program surfaces, and suddenly someone is using it to pull off what looks like the perfect murder. You can't just arrest an algorithm, though, so the FBI has to adapt. That's where our two leads come in. You've got a chaotic Gen-Z savant who probably thinks the agents are dinosaurs, and a veteran FBI agent who's seen it all and doesn't trust anything digital. Together, they're starting the bureau's first AI crimes division, and the first case is already burning a hole in their inbox.
John J. Pearson's art is doing heavy lifting here, and you know it. If you remember his work on In Bloom or The Department of Truth, you know he can draw tension that settles right into your chest. He's pairing that skill with Kaplan's knack for characters who feel like actual humans navigating a crazy world. The dynamic between the old-school agent and the digital-native savant promises to be as entertaining as the investigation itself. It's a five-issue limited series, so the story has a clear finish line, which makes it a perfect binge for your stack.
Since Mindset! was a fan favorite, it's fun to watch how Kaplan and Pearson evolve that chemistry. The Smart Division feels like a deliberate step forward, and with a five-issue run mapped out, you get a complete arc that lands. The dynamic between the chaotic savant and the weary veteran is going to carry you through the procedural beats, and the AI angle feels fresh and a little unsettling. It's the kind of debut that earns a place on the nightstand, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where this division heads.