Royal City #1

Jeff Lemire's Royal City arrives with a cover that feels quietly devastating from the very first glance — five blonde figures of different ages loom over a small industrial town's skyline, their expressions heavy with unspoken weight. Two young boys, one clutching a stuffed animal and another wearing a jersey numbered 10, stand alongside what appear to be the same person at different stages of life, connected by flowing lines that seem to bind them across time. It's a beautifully melancholic watercolor image that promises the kind of intimate, working-class family drama Lemire renders like no one else.