Stern #1

A young man in a dark suit and riding boots stands alone against a blood-red sky, a long-handled tool resting across his shoulders as grave crosses loom silently behind him — it's a striking opening image for Stern, the new Western series from Frédéric and Julien Maffre published by Dargaud Benelux in 2015. Julien Maffre's cover art sets a quietly ominous tone, balancing stillness and menace in a way that feels more literary than pulp. "De doodbidder, de zwerver en de moordenaar" — the undertaker, the wanderer, and the killer — promises a story with real weight to it.