Jacked #6

The six-issue miniseries Jacked reaches its finale with "Part VI: The Comedown," and Glenn Fabry's cover captures the bittersweet mood perfectly — a battered, disheveled man stands alongside a large cartoon-bear mascot, a smiling woman, a teenager, and a young girl clutching a doll, all surrounded by colorful balloons and a crowd of onlookers, like a family photo taken after a very rough road. The juxtaposition of that cheerful, festive atmosphere against the man's torn, beaten appearance says everything about what Eric Kripke and John Higgins have been building across this Vertigo series. It's a fitting, visually rich close to a story that's worn its mature-readers sensibility right on its sleeve.