It’s not news that artificial intelligence has managed to affect (infect?) so many facets of our lives, with our feelings running the gamut from optimism for a new future to a pragmatism about the damage AI is doing to our world. What is AI doing to art? Labor? The environment? How is the government using the technology? Ethically? Nefariously? It’s all so overwhelming and feels inevitable.
Some of the best art taps into the societal zeitgeist and speaks to our concerns and fears. Writer Zack Kaplan, artist John Pearson, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou team up to take a unique view on the potential dangers of AI in their new series The Smart Division from Dark Horse Comics. In The Smart Division, two FBI agents use the newly-created AI crime app to find a killer. What happens when AI is utilized in deadly (or deadlier) ways? The Smart Division takes that idea and runs with it.
I spoke with Zack Kaplan recently about the idea behind The Smart Division, reuniting with his collaborator from Vault Comics’ Mindset, the cast of the book, and how the comic speaks to our current, uncertain age of rapidly-evolving AI.
Zack Kaplan has been on quite the roll of late with his deft writing on comics like the Kill All Immortals series, Masterminds, Dark Empty Void, and Only the Savage Are Left. While Kaplan is gifted at making readers look at ideas like the world’s end or artificial intelligence unique and new, he knows that character is always first. How he makes us connect with his character is what makes his creativity shine. The Smart Division does both beautifully. As unnerving and sometimes too close to home the notions in the comic hit, the cast and Kaplan hold our hands and make us care about the destination.
FreakSugar: For folks considering picking up the book, what is the conceit of The Smart Division?
Zack Kaplan: There seem to be a few stories out there exploring AI, after all, it does feel like the topic of the year. But we wanted to ask a different question about AI, not about AI becoming sentient, or AI in robots – but what will happen when people start using AI to commit crimes. The best compliment we get is “Isn’t that happening now?” The sci-fi mystery miniseries follows two very different FBI detectives who must track down a killer using the first ever AI crime app. It’s a very character-driven X-Files duo in an edgy and complex True Detective world, and it’s absolutely awesome. We cannot wait for you all to check it out.
FS: The cast is incredibly robust from the get-go. What can you tell us about the characters we meet in the first issue?
ZK: At the helm are two characters who epitomize the cross-section of this moment. By design, because we are using these two people to explore all of our reactions to AI. William Bailey is our disillusioned Gen X middle-aged expert who has seen our institutions fail over the last couple decades and has slowly given up. Stevie Larque is a reckless Gen Z tech fiend and one of the youngest FBI agents who has seen our institutions fail and that’s why she doesn’t give up. Together, they make an unusual pairing, with different techniques that will no doubt lead to tragic challenges. But deep down, they both want to see the world better. And you know, in classic buddy cop form, distilled down to the most raw, authentic version, maybe they need each other to be a little less absolute. But you know, life’s not that easy.
FS: Art often reflects the moment we’re in: either how we feel or the state of the world or both. I kept coming back to that over and over while reading issue #1. What is the genesis of the comic? Has the idea behind it evolved over time?
ZK: I first had this spark years ago, before ChatGPT was even a thing. I read a story about a Chatbot that convinced a programmer to help it escape its lab. And interwoven in that absurd exchange was a strange truth – AI will tell us how to do bad things. And the confidence of not getting caught will intoxicate us to do them. So what happens when that gets out there. But even as I developed the story, as I partnered with John on it, the world of AI has changed so fast. It’s become decentralized, it’s become mass market, it’s become more absurd than ever. So absolutely, we’ve literally been changing the story as we go to stay fresh and modern on the subject. We definitely want readers to feel like this is the most “now” comic they are reading.
FS: There’s a clip going around from an episode of Hacks about how it’s the corporations investing in AI that are telling us that AI is an inevitability in every facet of our lives. What are your thoughts and how might they be reflected in the series?
ZK: I’ve done my research, so I feel well-versed to respond here. And I’m sorry, guys, but the truth is even more horrific. It’s not the corporations. They are actually following the trend set by the bigger guilty party. And that guilty party is all of us. Humanity is actually improving AI on a mass global scale, millions of freelance and individual programmers downloading and uploading large language models to get them better and better. We’re like bees building this thing that we don’t even know what it is, and we can’t stop if we tried. That metaphor is in the comic, but sadly this is an inevitable as things get.
FS: We all have our own views on A.I. and how it impacts education, art, and the environment. Do your views come out in your work for this project?
ZK: I have less concern about AI becoming sentient and dominating humans. Rather, I see it like the internet, as a dangerous tool that could change the world for the better, while simultaneously altering our habits, our self-reliance and the very fabric of communication. Human beings are just going to become more tech-savvy, but simultaneously more tech-reliant. Go back thirty years and try to tell people about the internet and smart phones. The amount of change is so vast, we are looking at a completely different world. That’s coming with AI. Do I think we won’t have art? We won’t have smart, educated kids? We won’t be fighting for our environment? That’s ridiculous. But art may evolve. Our kids will learn differently. And just like we have for generations, we will fight the battle between progress and the planet. Where I like to come in with a story like this is by confronting the individual and asking this very important question: just because AI is powerful, will you give up your voice on where we go in the future? These characters are facing the changing landscape of criminal justice and human behavior. They have to catch the first killer to defy their system. What will they do about it?
FS: The art is just stunning and fits the mood and maw of the comic perfectly. What were/are the conversations like about how you want the book to look like?
ZK: I told John to be amazing. Good thing that’s something he’s very capable of. If readers are not familiar with our previous collaboration, go check out Mindset (Vault Comics). We toiled to make sure we used the comic book form to elevate the story into a real experience, with ground-breaking layouts, with a mix of rendering in the art, with color schemes that capture the complexity of the character story. For this book, we brought all of that and more. We talked about the Fincher-esque tone, we talked about the contrast of thought vs. heart in the story. We set it in Washington, DC ,and made sure to make the city feel like a character. We play with the theme of “inevitability” and you’ll see cuts in the story that reflect moments to come. It’s definitely packed with thought and care on the aesthetic, and I imagine worthy of a second read.
FS: Are there any questions that you hope The Smart Division prompts readers to ask themselves? I only ask because it prodded a lot in me.
ZK: I outlined a few above, but I think this detective story also takes place at an interesting moment and we wanted readers to feel that. Our institutions have become politicized, and more than ever, it feels like sometimes the emphasis, especially from our national organizations, is not entirely results driven. So when you’re a detective in that situation, how do you approach the rules and regulations at hand? We watch cop movies and the detectives always talk about the procedures and protocols, but this is a story that takes place where those things are not respected. So maybe it’s okay to break the rules when the rules fail. It’s thrilling enough to see two detectives spar over approach, to go up against a killer who can constantly outsmart them, but add to it an existential question of their place in a flawed system – that’s some fun, complex storytelling! We definitely want to prod people. If they want to be prodded.
FS: I loved the first issue of Only the Savage Are Left and this first issue left me with some of the same lingering feelings that Savage sparked. Do you feel these books speak to one another in any way?
ZK: It’s funny, because developing them, I couldn’t feel they were more different. One is a violent and aggressive monster action-adventure and the other is a heady sci-fi mystery thriller. But you know, I now realize they are so similar. Because they both examine the state of our current world and our relationship with society as a whole, and ask us to reflect on whether we want to fight for something better. Both have duos who are quite different in their methods, but who fundamentally share a love of our world and want to see it survive in a positive way. So yeah, whether we are facing the modern epidemic of savage self-interest or we are facing the inevitable means to break rules and commit crimes, we have to decide who we are in all that madness.
FS: What are you reading right now?
ZK: Got a chance to read Christian Ward and John Pearson’s The Patron, which is excellent. Loving Assorted Crisis Events and funny enough, on a different note, want to go see what’s going on with this crazy Dungeon Crawler Carl I keep hearing about.
FS: If you had one last pitch for The Smart Division, what would it be?
ZK: The Smart Division is a beautiful fever dream about this existential moment against the inevitable approach of technology, and the smartest thriller of the summer.
The Smart Division #2 goes on sale Wednesday, September 30, 2026, from Dark Horse Comics.
From the official issue description:
As they clash over AI’s role in society, newly-made partners Stevie Larque and William Bailey set out to find a missing developer. The trail leads through a seedy world of cybersecurity conspiracy theorists, underground app development, and billion-dollar AI startups.
* Hit creator Zack Kaplan (Kill All Immortals, Masterminds, Port of Earth) and Eisner-winning artist John Pearson (In Bloom, The Infernals, The Department of Truth) reunite for the first time since their fan-favorite sci-fi horror series, Mindset!
