Scalped #51

Vertigo's acclaimed crime series hits a tense new milestone with Scalped #51, kicking off the five-part "Knuckle Up" arc by writer Jason Aaron and artist R. M. Guéra. Jock's cover sets the mood perfectly — two figures face off across a stark divide of red and black, an older heavyset man in a suit on the left and a lean, hard-edged younger man on the right, the jagged title lettering wedged between them like a fuse ready to blow. If you've been following this reservation noir, this opener promises the kind of slow-burn confrontation that makes Scalped one of Vertigo's most gripping ongoing series.