Incognegro #[nn]

Presented as a newspaper front page, the cover of this 2008 Vertigo graphic mystery immediately sets a tone of tension and atmosphere — a shadowed man in a broad-brimmed hat gazes out from beneath a bold masthead, surrounded by period-style newspaper columns and pull quotes from the likes of Cornel West and Walter Mosley. Mat Johnson's writing and Warren Pleece's art are celebrated right there on the cover itself, promising a story that digs into the dangerous complexities of race and identity in America. Stephen John Phillips's cover design is striking in its restraint, letting the noir mood and the weight of the subject matter do the heavy lifting.