Image Comics is starting 2023 with a jump into a future unlike anything you’ve seen before: a world where the line between magic and science doesn’t really exist anymore, but one in which human beings can always be relied upon to screw things up like they always have. Get ready to visit the world of Black Cloak.

A twist on the classic hard-boiled detective tropes, Black Cloak mixes sci-fi and fantasy in a future where all technology is rooted in magic, with the titular Black Cloak being the name given to those who try to keep order in a world that seems destined to fall apart. When a beloved prince is murdered, it’s up to two Black Cloaks to solve the crime before everything falls to pieces.

"Black Cloak is essentially all of my favorite things — detective stories, fantasy creatures and magic, neo-noir sci-fi — thrown into a blender and made into something thrillingly new... or if not new, then at least new-ish,” writer Kelly Thompson (Captain Marvel) told Popverse about the series. “And I'm so excited to be teaming up with Meredith again on a project where we can really cut loose with world-building and design. I can never get enough of how Meredith's brain works and she has breathed incredible super cool life into Black Cloak."

The series reunites Thompson with her Heart In A Box collaborator Meredith McClaren, who acts as both artist and colorist on the title; McClaren also provides covers for the series, although the first issue will feature variant covers from Jeff Dekal, Christian Ward, Peach Momoko, and Tula Lotay. As for how she got involved in the project, McClaren was straightforward and to the point: "Kelly asked me to and I like her a whole lot."

The first issue of Black Cloak will be available in comic book stores January 11, 2023. Digital editions will be available from Thompson’s 1979 Semi-Finalist newsletter. Click through the gallery below for a preview from the first issue.

If you’re looking for something else to dig into at Image Comics, may we recommend this guide to the Massive-Verse of Radiant Black?