Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses #26

David Lapham's Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses reaches issue #26 with a cover that pulls no punches — a woman in a headscarf levels a pistol at a bound, shirtless man lying helpless before her, the tension between them thick enough to cut. The stark mustard-yellow palette and Lapham's clean, expressive linework give the scene a quietly suffocating dread that the series does so well. If "Paht-nahs" is the story inside, this cover makes it clear that whatever partnership is on the table, it comes with serious strings attached.