Cerebus #231

This June 1998 installment of Dave Sim and Gerhard's long-running independent epic continues "Rick's Story" with a cover that's quietly striking in its design: a ghostly, faded background figure looms across most of the page while a small, vividly rendered tavern sign — depicting Cerebus himself carrying a tray of drinks — hangs in the upper left like a wry visual anchor. The contrast between that colorful, characterful vignette and the muted, almost spectral presence behind it gives the whole composition an understated unease that draws the eye back more than once.