Masterminds #1Every month, Dark Horse Comics gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a comic or book. These articles can include the inspiration behind a specific title, what it's like to work in the comics industry, or some other special feature on the highlighted title of the month. In this month's Horsepower, Zack Kaplan discusses power and how it plays into his upcoming series, Masterminds and Kill All Immortals II:

Two stories about power.

For some, they are born into it. For others, they must pay to get it. Some grow up with it as a privileged way of life, an inheritance to frivolously wield over others. Others spend their burdensome life idolizing it, desperate to harness control over their tumultuous future by any means possible.

I was not born into power and I’ve never really had it. Not in the way titans of business or notorious names of celebrity do. But as a kid from Midwestern cornfields, raised on Spielberg and Lucas, from a young age I grew up to believe that hard work and morality, cleverness and determination, could vault you to the highest station you might imagine.

I don’t believe that anymore.

That kind of impressive power, the kind held by powerhouse billionaires and visionary masterminds, you are either born into or you fight your way into. And regardless of how you achieve such monumental influence, I’m convinced that to get it, you must sell your soul in the process.

The noir thriller Masterminds tells the modern and Fincher-esque story of Edward Hale, a troubled young man with dreams of success in the gaming industry. But after failed attempts and a dead-end coding job, he stumbles upon the world’s smartest circle of masterminds. This secret society is devoted to the obscene success of its members by any means possible, but to join its ranks, you must survive their genius and sadistic audition of real-life challenges and puzzles. And despite his skillful quick thinking and fearless determination, the price for failure or withdrawal from the group’s mysterious game is death.

Kill All Immortals returns to continue our now-ongoing saga of immortal Vikings living in the present day as members of a billionaire empire. Our bold heroine Frey Asvald has managed to extract her and her siblings from her family’s influence and briefly indulge in the mortal experience, but they are about to discover you can’t run from your family’s name. And Frey must reconcile with the reality that she will always come from a barbaric Viking family, unless she dares to take control of her own legacy.

One story is a who-can-you-trust thriller, while the other is a John Wick–style action drama. One is soaked in neo-noir visuals of moody urban landscapes and death-defying Squid Game–style challenges in real life. The other is a breathtaking luxury tour through the elite class lifestyle, until weapons emerge and bodies fall.

But both issue a warning—to play the game of power, you must be ready. Ready to kill your morality for the choices that must be made. Ready to surrender those you love in the face of battle. And ready to accept a prison of infamy and ruthlessness, as you now serve the legacy of winning. It is what the world has revealed to us in recent times and times forgotten. The truth is this.

For power, you must sacrifice your identity, your ideals, and everything else.

—Zack Kaplan

Masterminds #1 by Zack Kaplan, Stephen Thompson, Thiago Rocha, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is on sale today, August 27!

Kill All Immortals II #1 by Zack Kaplan, Fico Ossio, Thiago Rocha, and Hassan Otsmane-Elahou will be on sale October 1!