Orbital #4

The fourth volume of Sylvain Runberg and Serge Pellé's acclaimed Franco-Belgian sci-fi series, Orbital: Ravages arrives in 2010 with a cover that immediately signals high-stakes tension — two figures in white spacesuits streak through the air above a sprawling, densely layered cityscape where futuristic towers rise behind ramshackle structures, while ground-level onlookers watch the scene unfold. Pellé's artwork beautifully balances grounded, lived-in detail with the breathless energy of figures in freefall, evoking a world where humanity and alien cultures collide in complicated ways. If you've been following Caleb and Mezoke's interspecies partnership, "Ravages" looks set to push their world — and their relationship — into turbulent new territory.