Kabuki #8

David Mack's painted cover for Kabuki #8 is a genuinely arresting piece of work — a woman's face rendered in luminous blues, purples, and warm amber light, eyes closed in what feels like deep inward contemplation, surrounded by swirling, expressive brushwork. The 1999 Eisner nomination for Best Painter credited right on the cover speaks to how far Mack pushed comics art as a medium in its own right. With a story titled "That Was Zen. This is Tao," this issue promises the same lyrical, introspective tone that made this series stand apart from everything else on shelves that year.