La Porte d’Ishtar #2

The second chapter of Alain Paris and Simon Dupuis's La Porte d'Ishtar arrives with a striking cover that commands attention: a massive, bearded face rendered in an ancient Mesopotamian style dominates the composition, wreathed in swirling flames and tendrils of smoke, while a small silhouetted bird hovers nearby and an ornate golden symbol gleams in the background. Above it all, a stylized animal figure evokes the iconic imagery of Babylonian antiquity. Le Masque de Chair — "The Mask of Flesh" — promises a series that draws deeply from the mythological well of the ancient Near East, and this 2008 release from Les Humanoïdes Associés looks like a rich, atmospheric continuation of that journey.