Grandville #[nn]

Bryan Talbot's Grandville is a richly imagined graphic novel that blends detective fiction with steampunk flair, following Detective-Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard through what the cover boldly bills as a "scientific-romance thriller." The striking red-and-black cover presents LeBrock — a formidable anthropomorphic badger in a long coat — wielding two pistols with the Eiffel Tower looming behind him, all framed in ornate Victorian typography that sets the mood perfectly. Published by Jonathan Cape in 2009, this is the kind of confident, stylish work that announces itself with real authority.