Astronauts in Trouble #9

Issue nine of eleven in this Image Comics series brings the penultimate stretch of Astronauts in Trouble into sharp focus — and Charlie Adlard's cover makes quite a statement. Dominating the starfield is a battered space helmet tumbling through the void, its visor cracked and its surface wrapped in what appears to be patriotic and branded imagery, suggesting something gone dramatically wrong in orbit. A film-strip row of black-and-white vignettes along the bottom — featuring figures in military gear, vehicles, and shadowy interiors — hints at the sprawling, grounded story running alongside the cosmic chaos. With Larry Young and Charles Adlard steering this eleven-part saga toward its conclusion, this penultimate chapter feels like exactly the right moment to be paying close attention.