The Dreaming #9

Part of DC's Sandman Universe line, The Dreaming #9 brings Simon Spurrier and Bilquis Evely's vision to bear on a story titled "The Void." Yanick Paquette's cover is a mesmerizing mandala of Art Nouveau geometry — a luminous, cross-legged figure with outstretched arms and great feathered wings rises at its center, framed by enormous peacock-feather eyes and a silhouetted forest landscape below, all rendered in rich golds and greens that pulse with dreamlike symmetry. Mat Lopes's colors deepen the otherworldly atmosphere, making this issue a genuinely striking entry in one of Vertigo's most imaginative ongoing series.