Issue #1: “Opening Night”

Detective Rae Martinez catches a string of bizarre murders across Macon, GA. Each victim is posed like a theater patron with their mouth carved into a grin and a ticket stub reading “LAUGH OR ELSE.” The trail leads to a burnt-out fairground where she finds Giggles mid-performance — corpses on pulleys clapping for his one-man show. Their fight ends with Rae trapped in razor-wire confetti and Giggles whispering “Intermission.” Ending hook: We see Giggles’ scrapbook. He’s collected photos of Rae since she was a kid at the 1989 Carter Family Carnival. She was in the audience the night it burned.