Graphic Novel Reviews: Inkblot Volume 1

Inkblot, created and illustrated by Emma Kubert and Rusty Gladd, is a fantastic story of high fantasy adventure. The creators, graduates of The Kubert School, use a method of comic creation that younger readers may be unaware of. Once called the Marvel Method and used under Stan Lee’s leadership, this method of story creation lends itself to organic visual storytelling; it begins with an general idea that is expanded upon by illustration and is capped off with words.

This edition of Inkblot collects issues 1-6 and introduces us to a mischievous magical inkblot that looks and acts like a black cat. Not just any magical black cat mind you; this one takes the reader on an adventure across time and dimensions and through the lives of a large group of immortal siblings. One of the siblings, the archivist, is trying to capture and return Inkblot to its proper time and place, but not with much luck.

Kubert and Gladd deliver a wonderful story that does many great things: it reintroduces a much-loved method of visual story creation, it takes the readers on a ride through multiple fantasy realms, and it gives us a cute and mystical cat-type creature to fawn over. Inkblot is suitable for and will be enjoyed by readers teen through adult.