Black Cloud, Vol. 1: No Exit

Succeeding in the realm of grand fantasy such as Alan Moore’s Promethea and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, this series opener follows the plight of Zelda, a young black woman of “old blood” (individuals who can change time) who hails from a dimension of dreams. Her society’s post-apocalyptic, so she decides to hop through alternate universes, including contemporary America, and find turning points in the past where she might rewrite the course of the future. The authors bring together a mix of indie and mainstream talent, complemented by the scratchy and expressionistic art by Hinkle, and subtle and strong colors from Matt Wilson. Zelda travels seamlessly between a full-color modern world and a monochrome world of antiquity and monsters. She seeks out old friends to discover where everything went wrong, chats with cats, philosophizes with green aliens, and dodges a dystopian government agent (“dream huge” reads his red baseball cap). “Every fairy tale has monsters,” Zelda declares, but then she adds, “I’m pretty sure I’m not the hero of my story.” Full of witty dialogue and subtle character development, this graphic novel charms from the first few pages. [em](Oct.) [/em]