Black Cloud #1 Review

Writer: Ivan Brandon, Jason Latour / Artist: Greg Hinkle / Image Comics The first words on the actual first page for this comic read “The Future will always be dark”. Wonderful. I’m intrigued. Here’s the beginning of a story that I believe won’t be a feel-good piece, something sugarcoated — I’m not here for fluff. Give me the grit and the epic world building and the unforgettable characters, and at this point in the game as a fan of several Image Comics titles, I’m okay with this. Black Cloud feeds us the significance of stories, of how important a story is: in our realm they capture our attention, they make up the newsfeeds, the television lineups and our conversations. Yet in another realm, they are a big deal, they consume at will… stories function as some kind of creature all together: they can become so massive that they become worlds of their own.

Our protagonist Zelda is from one or possibly more of these worlds — she ain’t from here. Her blending in is successful enough and we see her serving as a sort of guide. Less of a time traveler but more a businesswoman with frequent flyer miles through folks’ dreams. It’s interesting to see how others react to her and react to her presence, hinting that she’s someone almost revered in a way. Whatever, or whoever, she’s a force to be reckoned. It’s not lost on me that she’s a Black woman who, at least in our world, is shunned, ignored, and not thought of, as much as her true identity is not known to the public.

This first…