WITNESS POINT #1 / Created by NATHAN FILLION, HEATH CORSON & SOO LEE / Script by HEATH CORSON / Art & Colors by SOO LEE / Letters by JOSHUA REED / Covers by SOO LEE, SHAWN MARTINBROUGH & CHRISTOPHER SOTOMAYOR / Published by DARK HORSE COMICS

Apart from a higher-than-average population of circus performers in the off-season and a mayor who is a retired clown, Barboo Wisconsin is a typical American small-town. Small enough that there’s no news apart from some ambitious high schoolers with a Substack. And small enough there’s no law but Sheriff Carter “Kite” Calhoun and a single deputy.

However, this small town has a big secret. For the past 40 years, the Feds have been secretly sneaking people who needed to disappear after testifying about big crimes into Barboo. They’ve even given the town a cute nickname; Witness Point. At least, it seems cute until a dead body turns up naked, headless, and handless right after a man claiming to be a Marshall publicly argues with Sheriff Kite about the investigation he was less than quick in assisting. This leaves the sheriff sitting on a powder keg, as a paranoid populace start to turn on each other.

Witness Point is not like any mystery series I’ve ever read. Granted, there are ingredients that are familiar. The small town with a dark secret mixed with the small town full of eccentrics. The beleaguered sheriff managing said town full of eccentrics. And that old favorite, the mayor desperate to solve a murder quickly and quietly so a major event goes off without a hitch.

What makes Witness Point unique is the execution. Nathan Fillion and Heath Corson throw enough twists into the tropes to make it memorable. Like a magic trick with a twist that changes the usual illusion into something new and perplexing. For instance, the mayor hindering the heroes for the sake of peace and quiet is nothing new. Make that mayor a retired clown trying to keep the annual circus parade running, however…

All of this is eloquently illustrated by Soo Lee. The script requires a challenging level of variety, from the mundanity of suburbia to a potential tiger attack. However, Lee meets this challenge head on and astounds on every page.

True crime fans looking for something unusual will be in hog heaven. So will fans of the Minor Threats series, which features a similarly genre-bending level of fun. In fact, I dare say everyone should visit Witness Point.

Witness Point #1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on July 8, 2026.