Heartbeat #2

Maria Llovet's Heartbeat continues with this haunting second issue from BOOM! Studios, its cover depicting two young women — one dark-haired and visibly distressed, cradling another with blonde hair who lies bloodied amid a spreading crimson pool. Monarch butterflies drift across the stark white space around them, lending the scene an almost dreamlike quality that makes the violence feel all the more unsettling. At $3.99, this 2019 series already signals it isn't afraid to pair beauty with darkness in equal measure.