Messalina #2

Jean-Yves Mitton brings ancient Rome's most notorious empress to life in this second act of Messalina, subtitled "Le Sexe et le Glaive" — The Sex and the Sword. The cover, rendered in stark black and white with vivid splashes of crimson, depicts a powerful embrace between a warrior and a woman, a bloodied blade held between them — desire and danger wound together in a single, charged image. Mitton's clean, expressive linework gives this 2012 Ange release a bold, pulpy energy that suits its adult-oriented exploration of power and passion in imperial Rome.