1956: Movie Star #[nn]

Steve Lafler's 1956: Movie Star sets the scene with two sharply rendered women facing each other — one coolly composed, the other flashing a knowing smile while holding a martini glass — dripping with mid-century atmosphere and the particular electricity of a loaded social encounter. The warm, sun-bleached palette and bold retro lettering give the cover an unmistakable sense of time and place, firmly rooted in the glamour and undercurrents of 1950s Hollywood. This 2022 offering from Cat-Head Comics looks like a deliciously character-driven story that fans of stylish, period-flavored graphic fiction will want to pick up.