Gast #[nn]

Carol Swain's quietly arresting cover sets the tone immediately — a lone dog stands in the middle of a rural road stretching toward a wide, cloud-heavy sky, with sheep and perhaps another small animal receding into the misty distance. The soft, pencil-textured artwork gives the scene a contemplative, almost melancholy atmosphere that feels unlike anything else on Fantagraphics' 2014 slate. If you're drawn to comics that breathe slowly and reward patient attention, Gast looks like exactly that kind of book.