Proposition Player #2

The second chapter of Bill Willingham's six-part Vertigo series delivers a cover by John Bolton that practically leaps off the page: a winged, broadly grinning heavyset man floats skyward above a Las Vegas casino strip, gripping the ankle of a wide-eyed, panicking young man who dangles helplessly below him. The contrast between that serene, almost gleeful angel-like figure and the terrified human in tow sets up the series' blend of celestial stakes and street-level hustle perfectly. With Paul Guinan and Ron Randall on interior art, Proposition Player is shaping up as one of 2000's more intriguing Vertigo offerings.