Masterpiece #4

Alex Maleev's cover for this fourth issue pulls you in with its moody, painterly atmosphere — a young woman at center, her expression guarded and resolute, flanked by two looming shadowy figures whose arms enclose her in an unsettling embrace. The deep indigo palette and ghostly wing-like shapes in the background give the whole image a dreamlike tension that feels as much psychological thriller as crime noir. Brian Michael Bendis and Maleev, reunited at Dark Horse in 2024, bring that same brooding intimacy that made Scarlet so compelling to this origin story of a new criminal.