Terminal City #5

The fifth chapter of Dean Motter and Michael Lark's noir-tinged Vertigo series arrives with a cover — penciled and inked by Motter himself — that is all pulpy menace: a heavyset, pale figure in a gleaming red finned automobile brandishes a tommy gun, papers scattering in his wake, while a looming art-deco face watches from the shadows behind him. It's a striking image that captures everything Terminal City does best — retro-futurist style, a world where glamour and danger share the same chrome-trimmed ride. If you've been following this five-issue series through 1996, this penultimate installment promises a satisfying escalation.