I.R.$. #6

Three figures dominate this sleek, tension-charged cover: a silver-haired man in a dark suit faces off against a blonde woman in the foreground, while the face of a striking dark-haired woman looms large behind them both — a compositional choice that speaks volumes about power, manipulation, and divided loyalties. Bernard Vrancken's clean linework and the warm golden palette give the whole scene a cool, sophisticated edge that suits the financial-thriller world of I.R.$. perfectly. With Stéphen Desberg's script and the evocative Dutch title "De Omkoper" — The Briber — this 2004 Le Lombard entry looks like exactly the kind of morally intricate chapter that makes this series so compelling.