Essence #[nn]

A sun-baked, rundown garage sets the scene on Benjamin Flao's painted cover, where a lone figure stands near an old fuel pump while a faded blue car and scattered canisters fill the dusty courtyard behind him — the atmosphere is heavy with heat and quiet tension. Fred Bernard and Flao bring a distinctly European graphic-novel sensibility to this Futuropolis release, and the worn, earthy palette signals a story rooted in place and mood rather than spectacle. At 27,00 EUR, Essence looks like exactly the kind of measured, visually rich work that rewards slow reading.