The Fable Omnibus #3

Katsuhisa Minami's deadpan crime manga continues in this third omnibus volume, and the cover perfectly captures its irresistible tonal tension — a hyper-realistic young man stares out with cool, unreadable eyes while surrounded by cheerful, childlike doodles of a giraffe, a pink dog, a zebra, and a tiny soldier wielding a pitchfork, all floating around him like the world's most incongruous daydream. A smiling lion patch on his shirt and a teal cartoon cat perched on his head only deepen the absurdity. It's a beautifully disarming image that distills everything appealing about this series: genuine menace dressed up in the most disarmingly playful packaging imaginable.