The Hard Place #2

This second issue of Image's crime series The Hard Place opens with a striking cover that sets a grim, noir-soaked tone — a blonde woman's face, bruised and wide-eyed, stares upward against a wash of warm pink and gold, while a semi-automatic pistol, scattered shell casings, and blood-spattered bills surround her in the foreground. The composition by cover artist Brian Stelfreeze is tense and deliberate, using color and staging to communicate danger without spelling out a single word. If the first issue caught your attention, this 2017 Image release makes it clear the stakes are only getting higher.