Nez-de-Cuir #[nn]

This Futuropolis adaptation of Jean de La Varende's novel brings a haunting romanticism to the bande dessinée form, with writer Jean Dufaux and artist Jacques Terpant collaborating on a story steeped in 19th-century atmosphere. The cover is immediately arresting: a scarred, masked young man dominates the composition, his striking blue eyes gazing out from behind a pale half-mask, while below him a woman on horseback rides urgently past a brooding manor through a warm, storm-lit landscape. It's a beautifully composed image that promises passion, mystery, and the kind of melancholy grandeur that only French comics do quite this well.