Royal City #5

Jeff Lemire's Royal City continues to show why it's one of 2017's most quietly affecting series. This fifth issue features a haunting cover by Lemire himself — rendered in his distinctive loose, watercolor-inflected style — depicting an elderly man lying in a hospital bed, eyes downcast, an IV line trailing from his arm, while a younger figure stands ghostlike in the background. The image carries an unmistakable emotional weight, the kind of understated, human storytelling that makes this series so compelling.