Image Comics brings you a sci-fi and fantasy comic about some detectives who try to solve the murder of some royal family in the futuristic city which is Black Cloak in its first volume.
Now am I missing something, we get a comic that is a mixed blend of some mystery and sci-fi fantasy genre about solving a murder around the city which is very realistic, to begin with. However, this series turns out to be good to be true because the plot takes you to a similar aspect as the actual Cyberpunk game. The comic is written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Meredith McClaren, Kelly is the Eisner-winning writer of comics for Marvel Comic titles such as Black Widow, Deadpool, Captain Marvel, and such. However she did create her comics such as Mega Princess, Heart in a box, and two novels which is The Girl who would be King and Storykiller, and this comic is her first series at Image. And Meredith collaborated with Kelly before illustrating Heart in a Box with her.
The front cover shows some kind of a mermaid hybrid creature who is drowning in the sea or something, and the other mermaids are watching her drown to death. They just stare at her very creepy. There’s not more to say on this front cover, it just only shows someone who’s dying and later took a picture as a homicide case.
So how will you start a rad mystery, sci-fi, fantasy story? With an introduction of the city known as Kilos which is the last city in the Known World. It holds a great history between the war against good and evil, but after the war, the kingdom was united in peace in the most complicated way, which is much worse than the big apple itself. One of the seamen just started puking black outside of the lagoon which warns the civilians that they’re prohibited to pass through. If it seems weird enough, then there are some other creatures who are making such a disturbance in the neighborhood. One of the main characters had been taking so much to deal with some crooks because she’s a detective.
There’s this scene where some junkie had been comatose in his bedroom while the officials investigate that it looks like Royal Ink, but then the detective Essex knows who he is and he’s the one who supposes to marry her. What’s really so strange is that the Black Widow is actually a female detective who tries to avenge her lover’s death by bringing those crooks to justice, however, there’s more to that. Essex was being exiled from the mansion and called a traitor, but somehow she’s willing to solve the mystery behind the murder of some royal family member. This is exactly how the story starts somewhat similar to the Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime series. The issue ends when the police department is going to riot where most of these mutated creatures attacked other people, and then one person stabbed Essex to death.
The story is really mysterious if I would call this a mystery genre. But this is very cartoony violence, to begin with. But making a sci-fi fantasy comic about a detective who hopes to avenge her lover’s death is more than just a phase that the protagonist has to go through. Either way, this could have been a Webtoon material if this comic goes all the way with the story and the art. Speaking of, the art that Meredith has illustrated is more vector than I thought it would be, because of the flowy straight lines that she worked on, and the coloring is more in detail because there are some panels that have more in-depth, like that scene where some healer uses magic to heal Essex, which is much more than seeing a white mage uses healing magic. The structure of the whole city and the mansion is more like what you see on Final Fantasy but in the most futuristic way. So if you are ever interested in a mystery sci-fi and fantasy comic about something like that, then this is for you.
Newsdesk