Swan Songs #4

The cover of Swan Songs #4 says it all with a wink: a fill-in-the-blanks form introduces us to Bobby, standing against a police lineup wall, clutching what appears to be a "Bad Libs" booklet with a wary look over his shoulder — the whole thing framed as a mad-lib about a comic called "Swan Songs." Caitlin Yarsky's cover art pulls double duty, blending deadpan wit with genuinely tense atmosphere, making a mugshot feel like the setup to something far more complicated than a simple "sentence." W. Maxwell Prince's signature playfulness is right there on the surface, and this fourth chapter of the series looks like it delivers that same satisfying blend of concept and craft.