American Vampire: Second Cycle #1

Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque return to Vertigo's blood-soaked frontier with this 2014 relaunch, and the cover sets the tone immediately — a lone, shadowy figure in a cowboy hat walks toward a "Bienvenido a Juárez, Mexico" sign, a monstrous creature lurking at his side beneath a harsh green sky, while the lower half of the image brings us close to a young woman's face, blood trailing from her lips and a peace symbol on her jacket. The split composition is striking, pairing the sun-bleached danger of the border with something far more intimate and unsettling. Albuquerque's cover work is as assured as ever, making this opener for "Part One" feel like exactly the kind of fresh chapter the series deserves.