Border Town #4

A gaunt, cracked-skinned creature — teeth bared, eyes blazing with vivid purple — dominates the cover of this DC Vertigo series, its forearms crossed to display the words "DEATH BLOOMS" in dripping pink lettering, while roses and a cluster of somber young faces recede into the background. Ramon Villalobos's linework gives the figure a raw, unsettling texture that pairs perfectly with Tamra Bonvillain's striking two-tone palette of gray and hot pink. Horror Talk's pull quote — "Equal parts terrifying and relevant" — feels entirely earned when you're staring down a cover this unnerving for Eric M. Esquivel's "Número Cuatro: The Extra-Hard Setting.