The Fade Out #6

Sean Phillips's cover for The Fade Out #6 sets a quietly haunting mood: a man in a dark suit plays trumpet in profile while vivid streaks of crimson red bleed down the left side of the stark white composition, the contrast between the music and the violence-tinged imagery feeling deeply unsettling. Ed Brubaker and Phillips continue their noir descent into Hollywood's shadowy underbelly with this 2015 Image series, and issue six — subtitled "To Set the World on Fire" — promises the same atmospheric tension the series has consistently delivered. It's a beautifully composed cover that earns a second look.