Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash #[nn]

Dave McKean's painted cover sets the mood immediately: a gaunt, unsettling dog perches atop a shattered, blackened tree stump rising from a desolate, barbed-wire-strewn wasteland, while skeletal trees fade into a mist-grey background that feels equal parts battlefield and fever dream. The image draws directly on the spiritual world of British war artist Paul Nash, whose haunted visions of WWI landscapes found expression in canvas and now, in 2016, find a striking new home in comics form. McKean's mastery of mixed-media atmosphere makes this a genuinely arresting package before you've even opened the cover.