Cerebus #263

The "Going Home" arc reaches its 32nd chapter with a cover that's quietly arresting — a photorealistic winter shoreline rendered by Gerhard, all snow-blanketed rocks, driftwood, and a grey, shimmering sea stretching to the horizon under a diffuse winter sky. It's a mood piece as much as a comic cover, and Gerhard's draftsmanship transforms a desolate coastal scene into something genuinely atmospheric. Dave Sim and Gerhard's long-running collaboration on Cerebus was producing some of its most contemplative work in 2001, and this understated image sets that tone perfectly.