Hold-up #[nn]

That cover says everything you need to know about the mood: a grizzled, hat-wearing figure stares dead ahead over the twin barrels of a shotgun, rendered in Mezzo's striking halftone palette of olive, gold, and deep shadow against a stark black background. The confrontational close-up design is genuinely unsettling — those barrel circles aimed straight at the reader make it impossible to look away. Mezzo and writer Michel Pirus bring this Sherpa-published crime yarn to life in 2010 with the no-nonsense confidence of creators who know exactly what kind of story they're telling.