First look: 'The Cloud' takes flight with boy and his wolf

The sky itself gave way to artistic majesty in the upcoming graphic novel The Cloud.

“How would life be above the clouds? How would it be to chase the sun in order to avoid the darkness? Who could manage to do it? Those questions gave birth to our story and characters,” says writer K.I. Zachopoulos, one of the creators of the Archaia book (out July 20) with artist Vincenzo Balzano.

With shades of The Neverending Story, The Cloud — which will be previewed in Archaia’s Free Comic Book Day issue out May 7 — takes place thousands of years after the world we know ends. The fantasy centers on a boy, his winged wolf pal Cloud and their journey to not only find the boy’s long-lost dad but also return a stolen wish. Along the way, they meet a thieving girl and also run into the colorful Mad King.

While Cloud is pure, calm and brave, his human friend is impatient, haunted by the past but ready to make a difference, according to Zachopoulos. When they encounter the girl, who is “equally hot-headed, brave, and adventurous,” the writer says, “she is the boy’s only chance to wake his wishing stone and save their dying world.”

The overall tale, however, is Cloud’s to tell, Zachopoulos adds. “We needed to see the story through the eyes of a gentle being who sees good and evil as they really are: as two sides of the same coin, which is man itself.”

Miyazaki movies such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and video games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus inspired the creation of a landscape that “was fragile but cruel,” Balzano says, and one that’s an open world of nature, floating cities and strange creatures.

The clouds are a dividing line between the thriving mountains and metropolises above them, but below is the Kingdom of the Never-ending Night. No one remembers the past of what’s called the Great Before but some remnants remain.

“You can find majestic temples of the ancient Libya, evocative glimpses of Yemeni cities and ancestral echoes of Easter Island,” Balzano explains. “My inspiration came from the world we live in, especially places that are still there but seem to be already part of a forgotten era because of the changes and events of our modern society.”

The Cloud is ultimately a journey of hope between the light and the darkness, where wishes demand sacrifices, according to the artist. Those that come true always come with a price, Zachopoulos adds, and it takes more than just wishes to truly change the world.

“We need strength and patience and good friends to follow us when we choose the longest and most difficult of all the roads,” the writer says. “And this journey will be full of loss but hope will always shine like the North Star, helping us find our way home.

“But in the end our book is not a lesson. It is just the story of a winged wolf and his young master who will be born thousands of years after we press the red button.”