Reviews

Black Cloak Volume 1 (2023) is one of those rare comics that effortlessly blend high fantasy, cyberpunk, and procedural genres in a seamless organic whole. The last city in the known world, Krios, is rocked by the death of the popular heir to the throne. Tensions are high between factions, and an internal power struggle seems inevitable. Caught in the middle are the two Black Cloaks Essex and Pax assigned to solve the murder, a twisty case involved mermaids, royals, mages, and assassination attempts.

Every page of this first volume sucks the reader into this mystery, which owes as much to noir as it does to traditional fantasy. The players are the same, even if their species are a little different. Writer Kelly Thompson and artist Meredith McClaren have taken old tropes and made them completely fresh and full of life, no small feat. The main detective, Essex, is especially compelling as an ex-royal who was betrothed to the victim, the case reopening old wounds as well as pushing her to make difficult choices concerning the future of Krios. All the characters, even the minor ones, have developed personalities and needs, making this whodunit a compelling read. Even more interesting to me is [slight spoiler] the mystery is solved by the end of the volume, meaning that future installments are likely to be complete but highly interconnected stories, something I'm personally more invested in reading than an ongoing mystery. I'm excited to see where this tale goes.

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3.0

This reminded me of Altered Carbon but magic and no body jumping. I enjoyed it, but did wish the big reveal was a little...more something. I hope there is more to come though!