La jeunesse de Blueberry #14

Part of the long-running La Jeunesse de Blueberry series from Dargaud, this 2005 volume written by François Corteggiani and illustrated by Michel Blanc-Dumont plunges readers into the ominous world suggested by its title, "Le Boucher de Cincinnati." Blanc-Dumont's cover art is immediately arresting: dominating the foreground is a scarred, white-haired figure with a cold, unsettling stare, while a younger gunman in a tan coat stands wary and pistol-ready in the sun-baked desert behind him — a composition that crackles with tension between the two men. The contrast between that weathered, menacing face and the alert young Blueberry makes for a cover that's hard to look away from.