Astro City #39

A vertiginous upward angle frames this Alex Ross cover beautifully: a dark-haired figure gazes skyward as an enormous, shadowy humanoid presence looms above the city streets, its head wrapped in coiling ropes against a churning orange-and-blue sky. The towering architecture of Astro City closes in on either side, giving the whole scene a dreamlike sense of scale and unease. Kurt Busiek and Carmen Carnero bring their talents to "The Party of the First Part" in this November 2016 Vertigo installment — the kind of quietly unsettling storytelling that makes Astro City so consistently rewarding.