Cerebus #78

Cerebus #78 brings readers a genuinely striking cover from Dave Sim and Gerhard: the aardvark pope sits cross-legged atop an ornate floating altar, robes and purple sash draped around him, enormous bare feet thrust toward the viewer in a vertiginous low-angle perspective. Above him, a massive inverted landmass looms against a pale blue sky scattered with birds, with a mirrored reflection of Cerebus perched at its peak — the whole composition radiating an eerie, meditative stillness. "Odd Transformations: Part Two" promises that September 1985 was a genuinely strange moment in Cerebus's long journey, and this unsettling, beautifully rendered image makes a compelling case for diving right in.