Largo Winch #19

Philippe Francq's cover for this nineteenth volume of Largo Winch presents a striking, almost dreamlike composition: a man in dark trousers and a woman in flowing white are suspended against a stark pale background, their bodies intertwined yet drifting apart in a graceful, unsettling pirouette. The title "Chassé-Croisé" — a French term for a dance step of crossing and passing — feels perfectly embodied by that image of two figures caught in elegant, uncertain motion. Jean Van Hamme and Francq deliver another chapter of their long-running thriller series with this 2014 Dupuis release, and the cover alone promises intrigue laced with a touch of melancholy.