Paper Movies has given CBR an exclusive first look at Black Jackets, an upcoming graphic novel by Steven Grant, Shane Riches and Jesus Antonio Hernandez Portaveritas. Riches and Grant also provided comments on the book's inception, politics and what readers can expect from the series.

Talking about how the idea for Black Jackets came about, Riches said, "Grant had the fantastic idea of a Dirty Dozen or Suicide Squad-esque team of ex-cops hellbent on real justice inspired by the slang term 'black jacket' -- that’s derogatory for a disgraced law enforcement officer convicted of a criminal act. We inverted that to build a team of anti-heroes, flawed and broken themselves, who could use their unique skill sets to take down a corrupt judicial system from the inside."

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Grant added, "It was a plot idea I’ve been playing with for a long time, defrocked cops convicted of bad acts they didn’t commit using their training to go after the corrupt system players who got them smeared. Who’s good and who’s bad -- those things aren’t as set in stone as society prefers to pretend."

A political book by design, Riches talked the politics of Black Jackets, saying, "'When the law goes bad, break it' has been the mantra for the book, turned marketing tagline, from the beginning. So, even though Black Jackets was written before the current protests and calls for police reform, the lack of accountability in the judicial system and police brutality were at the forefront of our minds when writing it. Our villain is a degenerate sheriff who abuses his position and hurts the innocent -- inspired by real people and real events. This is all literally the embodiment of what so many are protesting now.

"While Black Jackets is first-and-foremost a rollercoaster ride, hopefully we’re able to shine a light on the call for police reform," Riches continued. "We need people inside the system ready to do real change, real good. In our story, the heroes are all law enforcement or ex-cops: layered characters who were sacrificed to a screwed-up system or even corrupted themselves. They're now desperate for a last shot at redemption.""

Grant noted, "That was the great thing about the concept. I came up with it years ago, but it’s a concept that, unfortunately, never goes out of date. There are some 'torn from the headlines' elements that shouldn’t be too hard to recognize."

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As for what readers can expect from the series, Riches said, "Black Jackets is an edge-of-your-seat race through a duplicity-filled, broken system in an elusive search for justice, following a hardened team of disgraced ex-cops tasked with taking down an untouchable, corrupt sheriff. It’s an unflinching, hard-edged action-thriller with renegade leads as the ultimate last resort, prepared to tear the system down from the inside -- with a healthy dose of bullets, blood, and sex along the way."

While Grant noted, "Shane’s forgetting the humor. Not like haha standup comedy jokes -- my style’s a lot drier than that -- but there’s a lot of subtle humor. I’ve done some pretty grim material and this isn’t quite that. It’s not a downer. For the most part, our heroes are people you wouldn’t mind having lunch or Happy Hour with… at least until you found out they were (officially) 'crooked' cops…"

You can see CBR's exclusive preview of Black Jackets below alongside the plot synopsis for the book.

A hardened team of imprisoned ex-cops — each guilty of a different felony — is offered a last chance at redemption in exchange for joining a clandestine strike force tasked with taking down an untouchable, corrupt sheriff. Following foot soldiers whose hands may be dirtier than the criminals they track down, Black Jackets is an edge-of-your seat ride through a duplicity-filled underworld in an elusive search for justice — with a healthy dose of bullets, blood and sex along the way.

Black Jackets releases Aug. 5.

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