Cities are odd. Living on top of and around one another, makes things hectic. Even more so when these people are humans, elves, mermaids, satyrs, gaseous beings, and all other manner of creatures. Note that the setting of in Kelly Thompson, Meredith McClaren, and Becca Carey’s Black Cloak is the only remaining city on the planet after a massive cataclysm. That metropolis heaps layers and layers of stress on its inhabitants.

That’s why the titular Black Cloaks exist in this world.

The city of Kiros is the last bastion of civilized life left on the planet, but that doesn’t mean crime stops. People will always be in need of something they don’t have and that includes wanting someone dead. But then this dead person just happens to be the heir to the city’s ruling throne and formerly engaged to the Black Cloak investigating his murder, Phaedra Essex. Exiled from the royal elves that run Kiros, she now patrols the city with her partner, Pax, and need to find out who murdered the queen’s son before the secret ruptures the city from within.

But then maybe the city is in need of a change? The royal family has been ruling for centuries and their guidance hasn’t prevented the city from stagnating in its own inequality. And if it takes the death of a prince to show the city how much it’s failed them, then maybe that’s what is needed.

The mystery showcasing the slowly unraveling city isn’t the only thing on display here from Thompson, McClaren, and Carey. There is an intricacy to the world that’s been created here and it feels like we’re only seeing a couple notes from a tome of a lore bible. The different races and factions throughout the city, the cultures we briefly see as Phaedra and Pax make their rounds, the policies and procedures they have to follow when investigating certain parts of the city—it all culminates in a world that feels not just well-developed, but authentic.

Of course kids would hang out near the mermaids’ lagoon to see who can withstand their siren songs the longest. Of course there’s brown-outs that only affect certain parts of the city. Of course there are arcades and coffee shops and ramen-yas still in this city since those are the things that people just build when together. Even without the murder, we’re still given a world that we want to explore beyond the scope of the story. 

Black Cloak is one of the most interesting worlds to come out of comics this decade and we’ve barely seen a fraction of it. There’s a depth present here in both the mystery and the city that begs to be explored. And, like any city, it feels like it would take many more stories and issues to fully dive into what’s been created here. 

Get excited. Get on the beat. 

Drew Barth (Episode 331, 485, & 510) resides in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida.