The Bloody Cardinal #[nn]

Richard Sala's distinctive watercolor linework is on full display in this 2017 Fantagraphics release, where a four-panel page introduces us to a cagey, heavyset older man behind a book counter and a sharp-eyed red-haired young woman running a mysterious errand. The scene crackles with quiet intrigue as the conversation turns on an anagram hidden within the title "The Bloody Cardinal" itself — "Diary of the Cardinal" — a clever wink that sets the tone for the puzzle-box storytelling ahead. Sala handles every line, letter, and shadow himself, giving the whole thing a handcrafted intimacy that fans of his atmospheric graphic novels will find immediately welcoming.