S.A.M. #2

A young rider perches atop a massive, battle-worn robot — its glowing red eyes staring out over a sprawling urban skyline far below — on this striking cover for the second volume of S.A.M. from Dargaud. The vertiginous angle and weathered, graffiti-tagged machinery give the image a kinetic, anime-influenced energy that feels right at home in 2013's wave of ambitious Franco-Belgian science fiction. If this cover is any indication, S.A.M. is shaping up to be one of the more visually inventive robot-and-city stories on the shelves.