Review by Ian Keogh

A woman subsequently named Em arrives at a hospital with her memory almost completely wiped, although she remembers enough to speak. Chris Roberson then switches to a frightening scene in the Everlands, a repository for lost memories, and an unseen mistress berating three servants for being unable to locate a key. Several pages later Em is drawn to an old key in an antique shop, and within short order she’s attacked by statues, meets a talking cat, and finds a door that opens in various locations.

The talking cat is named Schroedinger, and is one of numerous cast members whose names will be familiar, more usually inherited from myth or fiction, and so bringing with them assumptions about their personalities. Em is the innocent abroad, holding an object of considerable power wanted by many dangerous people, yet riding her luck and able to frustrate them.

Memorial is drawn in an awkward style by Rich Ellis. A nudge toward realism would make the threats more threatening, and the fantasy more convincing, but the cartooning diminishes the mood. However, Ellis does have his moments, such as the negative effect seen on the sample art, which in combination with the colours of Grace Allison supplies a disorientation.

Given Roberson playing with names from fiction, readers may figure out who some people are before that’s disclosed, but alongside that he delivers some intelligent considerations on known names. The Tower of Babel is used as a repository of possibilities, for instance, with all outcomes to any situation conceived. Unfortunately, though, instead of sticking to a plot and following it through, Roberson is seduced by the possibilities, and with only six chapters at his disposal is determined to keep throwing in characters who are distractions in the longer term.

Were it more focussed, Memorial could be seen as a middle ground between Fables and Sandman, but lacks the finesse of either, instead possessing moments of charm and mystery instead of chapters of them.

While this story is complete in itself, Roberson and Ellis subsequently produced a sequel titled Memorial: Imaginary Fiends, only available as a digital package.