In Bloom #4

The fourth issue of BOOM! Studios' In Bloom arrives with a cover that's equal parts beautiful and unsettling — a golden flower mandala bearing a skull at its center dominates the composition, ringed by scattered human figures in various states of distress while a small group of suited figures walks purposefully above it, surrounded by lush, decaying blooms. John J. Pearson's artwork weaves together organic warmth and creeping dread with real skill, the sunflowers and dahlias framing the scene giving the whole image a haunting, funereal garden quality. Michael W. Conrad and Pearson's series continues to promise something distinctly dark beneath its floral surface.