Writer Dan DiDio and artist Tom Derenick are bringing a classic spy into the modern day in their upcoming noir series Secret Agent X-9, coming from Mad Cave Studios and King Features. The new eight-issue comic book series is inspired by the spy-thriller Secret X-9 newspaper comic strip by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond, which ran for more than 60 years. Fans of classic noir and detective stories like Dick Tracy will love this thrilling new take on beloved spy Phil Corrigan. Featuring colors by Jão Canola and letters by Jeff Eckleberry, Secret Agent X-9 #1 hits shelves on January 27, 2027.

In 1934, Hammett and Raymond created their genre-defining strip Secret X-9, starring an unnamed agent who worked for a shadowy anonymous agency. Now, a new legendary creative team led by DiDio and Derenick joins forces to explode Secret Agent Phil Corrigan into the modern day! When a failed assassination attempt drags retired super-spy Phil Corrigan back into the shadows, he’s forced into an uneasy alliance with a younger operative to hunt Pendulum–a shadow network manipulating both extremes of the political spectrum to keep the world in perpetual chaos. Featuring old villains and new allies, surprise settings, and classic explosive action, Secret Agent X-9 kicks off the noir comic of the year!

The first issue of Secret Agent X-9 will feature a stunning Cover A by Mike Perkins with variant covers by an all-star lineup of artists including Derenick, Miguel Mercado, and Gabriel Hardman.

Ahead of the first issue’s release, fans of the original strip will also enjoy the upcoming hardcover collection of Secret Agent X-9 coming from Mad Cave Studios and King Features. The collection features Hammett and Raymond’s original newspaper strips as well as the first two years of Al Williamson and Archie Goodwin’s revival strip Secret Agent Corrigan, created thirty years after the original. The book will be available in bookstores on January 12, 2027, and in comic book stores on January 13 (ISBN13: 9781545837474).