Cloaks #1 (of 4)

Author: Caleb Munroe
Artists: Mariano Novarro
Release Date: September 3, 2014
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Source: Boom! Studios Press Site
Genre(s): Action, Mystery

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Spoilers: Low

I don’t know what it is about magicians that make them the perfect stars of capers. Perhaps it is the angle of that you’re never supposed to know how they did it. Therefore, they can pull off the perfect crime, right?

Cloaks has a similar concept to the 2012 film Now You See Me of magicians robbing the rich, except way more street level and focused on one magician instead of four. Adam D’Aquino is a young street magician who performs guerrilla magic acts in New York under the name “The Kid.” While performing his acts, he pickpockets from the richer of his crowd and sells what he grabs for money to donate to a local orphanage. It’s like Robin Hood, but with illusions…

…Until he’s caught trying to rob a corrupt Wall Street banker’s home, but that’s just the start of Adam’s journey.

The first issue of this four part mini-series does a great job of setting up Adam’s story. We understand that he’s not doing this to advance his own means, but the means of others. And that he’s so freakin’ talented that the police need a whole squad to surround him. I just wonder how they’re going to fit this story into just four issues.

While both Munroe and Novarro are on point with writing and art respectively, I have to admit that magician’s slight of hand doesn’t translate as well to the comic medium. You can drop visual hints with certain things, like the watch from the opening present day scene on Wall Street, it doesn’t come across as fluid as an actual magic trick does.

Still, I’d definitely recommend checking out the first issue of Cloaks. The first issue is clear cut and does a great job of setting up just who we’re dealing with. What we’re dealing with might be a different story if the first issue cliffhanger is any indicator, but I know I was all in for the second issue by the time it arrived.

Final Thoughts: In magic terms, Cloaks #1 is definitely the pledge. We don’t know what exactly is going to happen with the story yet, but we’re presented with a clear set up that builds a strong foundation for whatever comes next.