Alix Senator #11

Three riders burst through a towering Assyrian gateway — flanked by massive lamassu guardian statues with their carved bearded faces and richly detailed wings — as an arrow strikes the snow-dusted ground behind them, making the urgency of their flight unmistakable. Thierry Démarez renders the ancient architecture of Khorsabad with striking care, the blue-glazed tile arch framing a distant pursuing army while the three figures — a young woman, a girl, and a white-turbaned man in a vivid red tunic — push their horses hard through shallow, splashing water. Alix Senator #11, written by Valérie Mangin, promises an adventure deep in the ancient Near East, and this cover alone makes it very easy to want to follow these riders wherever they're heading.