I.R.$. #19

A world of high-stakes finance and cool menace radiates from Bernard Vrancken's cover for this 2018 Le Lombard release, where a sharp-suited man in the foreground — expression guarded, fingers raised pensively to his chin — commands immediate attention against a sun-drenched backdrop of palm trees, a luxury pool, and three figures whose body language suggests power and surveillance in equal measure. Stephen Desberg and Vrancken's long-running series about financial crime finds a fitting visual home in "Les Seigneurs financiers," a title that perfectly matches the affluent, shadowy atmosphere on display. Fans of sophisticated European thriller comics will find this nineteenth installment an intriguing addition to one of the genre's most stylishly realized series.