Electropolis #2

Dean Motter's retro-futurist noir world gets another stylish outing in this 2001 Image Comics second chapter of "The Infernal Machine." The cover, signed by Motter, sets the tone perfectly: a trench-coated detective leans in to examine a small, compact robot with a glowing green head, while a glamorous blonde woman in a sleek black outfit perches atop a large safe emblazoned with "Terminal City." There's a wonderfully deadpan wit to the scene — part hard-boiled mystery, part art-deco whimsy — that makes this series from the creator of Mister X and Terminal City a genuinely distinctive corner of the Image catalog.