J.H. Williams III's cover for this issue.

Crossing Midnight #06, “A Map of Midnight” (Part 1 of 4), Toshi Hara begins her apprenticeship as a servant of Aratsu (the self-proclaimed “Master of Swords) under the tutelage of the kabuki-masked, Kishimo.  Nidoru, who befriended Toshi’s twin brother, Kai, joins forces with Rinjin against Aratsu.  Meanwhile, Kai meets a policeman who may be able to answer some of his questions.

THE LOWDOWN:  Mike Carey has fashioned in Crossing Midnight a comic in which the characters are as rich, engrossing, and mesmerizing as the Japanese folklore and mythology he has mined to create this comic.  That’s not necessarily easy.  Often, many writers are able to show off their research in their narratives, but the characters get lost.  In the end, such a work is more an exercise in amateur scholarship than it is a story.  Reading Crossing Midnight, one can understand why Neil Gaiman has spoken so well of the highly-skilled Carey.

Meanwhile, Jim Fern continues to capture Crossing Midnight’s atmosphere of brutal horror and its rapidly rising creepy factor.  His clean, exact line (inked by the accomplished inker Mark Pennington) is perfect for this fantasy which is deeply rooted in both the matter-of-fact world of urban Japan and the perilous world of the spirits.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  The Sandman and Fables readers.

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