Phenomena, Book One: The Golden City of Eyes

Bendis (the Daredevil series) and Araújo (A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance) launch this lavishly illustrated sci-fi/fantasy adventure at top speed and never slow down. In a future where the rules of reality have turned inside out, Boldon, a gung-ho young wanderer, heads to the city of Borzubo because “who doesn’t want to see something they’ve never seen?” Soon, he’s joining a warrior Cyper called Spike and a girl thief named Matilde on a quest for the legendary Golden City of Eyes. The story races too rapidly to fully establish the characters, but it’s easy to get swept up in the relentless energy. Flying whales and tentacled monsters crash into organic-futuristic cities, people ride Dune-like worms through the prairies, and every street teems with fantastic creatures and folks in Moebius-inspired costumes. (In case Araújo’s intricate art’s influences aren’t obvious enough, Moebius, Hayao Miyazaki, and Jack Kirby appear as a trio of elders.) This chaotic background provides details that fill in the worldbuilding: readers glean that stories have power and that, before the “phenomena,” Borzubo was known as Toronto. But the foreground is speedline fight scenes. Fans of cinematic fantasy will want to hop on this thrill ride, then reboard hoping for more to the story in the next volume. Agent: Janine Kamouh, William Morris Endeavor. (Sept.)