Doctor Mirage

Visaggio (Strangelands) introduces paranormal investigator Shan Fong Mirage—or Doctor Mirage—whose power lies in her ability to communicate with the dead, in this first volume of a cerebral and otherworldly series. Mirage is confused when the dead seem to have gone silent, including her deceased magician husband, Hwen. But then 16-year-old Grace Lugo shows up at her door, claiming to have been sent by Hwen, and reveals that she and Mirage are dead and in hell themselves—and Doctor Mirage has to pierce the veil between the present and the afterlife in order to answer the question: how do you investigate your own death? The series opener is ripe with delightfully psychedelic twists, rooted by tropes of mythological tragedy (they seek out the cult of Goddess Isis for guidance). Robles’s dynamic artwork brings the dead back to life through creative use of broken panel borders and mixed media texturing, with cartooning reminiscent of both Bill Sienkiewicz and Fiona Staples. The blend of fantasy, mythology, and a serious look at grief give this genre-bending series plenty of room to grow in its future installments. (Mar.)