Rex Mundi #8

Issue eight of Image's Rex Mundi opens on a deeply unsettling juxtaposition: dominating the foreground is a massive, blood-streaked fist clutching a key and wearing a signet ring, while in the background a suited man carrying a briefcase looks on with quiet unease. The cover's title, "The Ring and the Key," ties directly to those two charged objects rendered in striking detail by Eric J, with Jeromy Cox's muted, shadowy palette lending the whole scene a tense, noir-soaked atmosphere. Arvid Nelson's medieval-mystery series was already carving out a distinct voice in 2003, and this installment looks to keep the intrigue running deep.