Canto: The Clockwork Chronicles #1 begins a new ongoing adventure on November 18, 2026, with a 32-page first issue priced at $4.99 in the US. The new chapter sends its small, big-hearted knight across the Mechanical Sea toward the Forgotten Isles, a place where jungle life and strange machinery occupy the same unsettling landscape.

The premise puts compassion—not conquest—at the center of the journey. Canto travels the Unnamed World helping people in need, but the visit to the isles quickly becomes personal when catastrophe strikes his friend, Mico the Malorex. The unanswered fate of the Forgotten People remains part of the setting’s larger mystery, while the immediate question is whether Canto can save his companion.

A fresh entry point, with a larger journey ahead

Dark Horse positions The Clockwork Chronicles as both a starting place for newcomers and a continuation-friendly destination for established Canto readers. That matters for an ongoing comic: issue #1 has to establish a clear immediate problem while making room for a longer-running story. Here, the rescue of Mico provides the urgent emotional engine, while the Forgotten Isles and their vanished population offer a broader thread that could develop beyond the debut.

An ongoing series is a comic designed to continue without a predetermined final issue count. In practical terms, that makes the first installment especially important. Readers should be able to understand the central hero, stakes and setting without needing an encyclopedia of previous events, while returning readers will be looking for a world that still has somewhere new to go. The stated “perfect for new readers and long-time fans” approach suggests this issue is intended to carry both jobs.

The central geography does much of the initial storytelling work. The Mechanical Sea is not merely a route on a map; its name immediately places an industrial, fantastical texture around the voyage. On the other side are the Forgotten Isles, where natural jungle fauna is paired with unfamiliar machines. That collision between organic and mechanical elements gives the setting a distinct visual and thematic foundation without resolving its questions too early.

The mystery is present, but Mico is the immediate stake

The disappearance or fate of the Forgotten People is explicitly introduced as a mystery, but it is not the first crisis the story promises to tackle. Mico’s catastrophe interrupts the investigation. This is a useful distinction for prospective readers: the debut appears to be structured around a character-driven rescue rather than solely around archaeological or world-building discovery.

Canto’s defining description is equally direct: he is a small knight with a big heart. In a story populated by strange machines and traversing a Mechanical Sea, that emphasis on heart signals that bravery and care for others are likely to matter more than sheer physical scale. The question attached to the issue is not whether he can overpower every danger on the islands, but whether his courage can save someone close to him.

That premise also gives the debut a natural emotional accessibility. A reader need not know the full history of the Unnamed World to understand why a friend in danger changes the mission. The larger lore is available in the background—the strange island machinery, the missing inhabitants and the sea voyage—while the rescue supplies a human-scale reason to follow Canto into it.

Who is on the creative team?

The first issue credits David M. Booher, Drew Zucker, Vittorio Astone and AndWorld Design, with a cover by Zucker. The available listing does not break down every individual production role, so readers should avoid assuming responsibilities beyond those credits. What is clear is that the issue presents a collaborative creative lineup for the launch of the ongoing series.

The solicitation also points to readers of D’Orc, Kaya, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Usagi Yojimbo. Those are reference points for the intended audience, not a promise that the books share a plot, art style or exact tone. Still, the group helps frame the appeal: an adventurous fantasy story led by a distinctive hero, with action and sentiment sharing the page.

For readers who enjoy serialized genre storytelling across different formats, that blend of a self-contained crisis and an open-ended mystery is part of what keeps a continuing story moving. It is a different medium and setup, of course, but the appeal of a continuing fictional thread is also visible in coverage of how a credits stinger can preserve a larger narrative question. The Clockwork Chronicles is starting with its own unanswered question: what became of the people who once lived on the Forgotten Isles?

Format, price and cover options

Canto: The Clockwork Chronicles #1 is listed as a 32-page comic for kids to adults. The standard edition carries the item number 76156801660400111 and a $4.99 US price. Canadian pricing is listed at $6.99 for the named variant editions.

  • Cover A: Drew Zucker; $4.99 US.
  • Cover B: Duncan Fegredo; item number 76156801660400121; $4.99 US / $6.99 CAN.
  • Cover C: Lukas Ketner; a 1:25 variant; item number 76156801660400131; $4.99 US / $6.99 CAN.
  • Cover D: Oz; item number 76156801660400141; $4.99 US / $6.99 CAN.

“Variant” refers to an alternate cover edition of the same comic issue. The interior story is not described here as being different between the covers. The “1:25” designation on Cover C is a retailer-incentive ratio: it identifies that edition as tied to a 1-to-25 ordering ratio rather than simply being another regular cover selection. Readers seeking a particular cover should confirm stock and ordering options with their preferred comic retailer, especially for the ratio variant.

What readers can expect from issue #1

The material available for the launch establishes several reliable expectations: a sea journey, an island setting, action and suspense, a personal emergency involving Mico, and a mystery surrounding a lost people. It does not reveal how Mico is harmed, what happened to the Forgotten People, or whether the first issue resolves either problem. Those unanswered details are the hook, rather than gaps to be filled with speculation before the comic arrives.

That restraint is likely the right approach for a first issue. The Forgotten Isles sound built to invite exploration, but the focus on a companion in danger prevents the setting from becoming only a backdrop. Canto has a reason to act immediately, and readers have a clear reason to care about the outcome even as the wider secrets remain out of reach.

With its mechanical-fantasy setting, rescue-centered conflict and ongoing format, Canto: The Clockwork Chronicles #1 is positioned as a welcoming launch for a continuing expedition through the Unnamed World. The issue goes on sale November 18, 2026.