Fatale #4

Sean Phillips's cover for Fatale #4 sets the tone perfectly: a shadowy figure in a fedora and opaque round glasses holds blood-soaked fingers to his lips in a chilling gesture of silence, rendered almost entirely in stark black and white with that single jolt of red. Ed Brubaker and Phillips continue their noir-horror collaboration here in 2012, and this image alone — mysterious, unsettling, quietly menacing — makes a compelling case for the series. If you've been following "Chapter Four," this cover is a masterclass in atmosphere; if you're just discovering Fatale, consider this your invitation in.