American Century #19

Set against the smoky atmosphere of a Chicago jazz club, this November 2002 Vertigo issue features a charged cover by Jim Silke — a man in a sharp suit pulling a woman close for a kiss while onlookers react with wide-eyed surprise around them, a brass trombone tumbling dramatically in the foreground. Howard Chaykin and David Tischman's mature-readers series has always had a flair for placing its characters in morally complicated, period-drenched situations, and the title "Things To Do In Chicago When You're Dead" promises exactly that kind of edgy intrigue. With interior art by Luke Ross inked by John Stokes, this is a stylish slice of mid-century American noir from one of Vertigo's more underappreciated runs.