American Virgin #5

This Vertigo title from 2006 opens a new five-part arc with a haunting cover by Josh Middleton: a pale, luminous young blonde woman lies in an open coffin scattered with red roses, surrounded by a lush tangle of flowers and mourning figures half-glimpsed in the background — a nameplate on the coffin's edge adds a quiet, unsettling specificity to the scene. The imagery strikes a tone that is at once beautiful and deeply mournful, perfectly in keeping with the mature, emotionally raw sensibility Steven T. Seagle and Becky Cloonan have brought to this series. If you've been following American Virgin, this is a compelling entry point into what promises to be a significant new chapter.