Memorial opens with it's main character arriving at a hospital with no memories of who she is or her past. The staff, unable to find any traces of who she is only have one clue, her necklace with the letter M, thus nicknaming her Miss M. Flash forward to a year later, Miss M now goes by Em, and has found a job, an apartment, made friends and has created a life for herself.

Em stumbles upon an antique shop one day walking past an alley she has walked by time and time again. In this antique shop she is drawn to a key that when she touches has a ripple effect on not only her, but alternate worlds. It is around this time she meets a talking cat and discovers the antique shop is a dimension into an alternate universe.

Issue #1 is very vague in building any character, not because Chris Roberson lacks the talent to do so, but rather very purposeful. He leaves just enough of the world and Em to make you want more. As you get to the last panel you palette is wet as you realize the endless possibilities in a universe you get to grow with. Robinson also refreshingly avoids inner dialogue and instead brings a great narrative to let you sink your teeth into.

Rich Ellis art is extraordinary to say the least. Each panel is able to tell a story in its self with out the narrative. Ellis' attention to detail is displayed at its best in Memorial. A great example of this is all of the background detail once Em enters the antique shop, Ellis uses no shortcuts. The way Ellis captures each characters emotion in his artwork truly puts Ellis in a category on his own. If the story does not hook you, his artwork will.

5/5

tl;dr Memorial #1 is a magnificent start to a world filled with possibilities. Chris Roberson's superb writing and sly humor mixed with Rich Ellis' magnificent art are sure to hook you in, to what should, become IDW's next big thing.