Art Ops #9

Vertigo's Art Ops reaches its ninth issue with a cover by Michael Allred that frames the series' blend of art-world surrealism beautifully: a towering, faceless blue figure stands arms-crossed on a pedestal beneath dramatic stage lighting, while a blue-haired young woman holding a small statuette looks up at it from below. The stark contrast in scale between the two figures gives the image a quietly unsettling grandeur, punctuated by the bold yellow-striped logo overhead. With Shaun Simon writing and Laura Allred's colors lending their signature warmth to Matt Brundage's interiors, this "Popism, Part Two" chapter looks like a genuinely compelling chapter in one of Vertigo's more inventive 2016 offerings.