Alias #19

Part four of "The Underneath" arc arrives with a cover by David Mack that feels less like a comic book and more like a painting come alive — a woman's face tilts upward in anguish or ecstasy against a wash of violet and rose brushstrokes, her figure dissolving into intricate, mosaic-like line work filled with faces and serpentine forms. The layered mixed-media approach perfectly captures the psychological intensity Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos brought to this mature-readers MAX title in 2003. If you've been following Jessica Jones through this emotionally raw storyline, this issue's cover alone signals that things are only getting deeper.