人形の国 [Ningyō no Kuni] #2

A striking figure dominates this second volume of Tsutomu Nihei's Aposimz — a pale, red-eyed woman in elaborate dark armor, her long pink-white hair cascading around her as she grips a slender lance, surrounded by sweeping white blade-like shapes against a smoky backdrop. Nihei's signature aesthetic is on full display here: elegant yet threatening, with a design that sits somewhere between doll and warrior — fitting the series' title, Ningyō no Kuni ("Land of the Dolls"). If the opening volume drew you in, this cover makes a quiet but confident promise that the world only grows stranger and more beautiful.