The Fade Out #5

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's Hollywood noir series reaches its fifth chapter with a cover that puts the darkness front and center — a battered, blood-flecked blond man glowers directly at the viewer, knuckles bloodied and a gold chain clutched in his fist, while a crimson splash above suggests violence already done. Sean Phillips's painted cover work here is precise and unsettling, pulling you into the bruised glamour that defines The Fade Out. "The Broken Ones" promises exactly what that title suggests, and this 2015 Image issue makes a compelling case for the story inside.