Moriarty #2

The second issue of Image's Moriarty: The Dark Chamber arrives bathed in deep purples and reds, with Anthony Diecidue's moody cover art assembling a striking cast of Victorian figures — a tall, shadowy man in a top hat and long coat dominates the composition, cane in hand, while a mustachioed gentleman in tinted spectacles, a young woman in an elaborate hat, a glamorous figure in an evening gown, and several other shadowy faces crowd the frame beneath a luminous full moon. It's a brooding ensemble portrait that radiates intrigue and menace in equal measure. Daniel Corey's reimagining of literature's most calculating villain continues to look like one of 2011's more atmospheric crime series.