The Massive #9

Brian Wood's post-collapse seafaring series reaches the third and final chapter of its "Subcontinental" arc with this striking Dark Horse entry. John Paul Leon's cover draws the eye immediately to a lone figure viewed from above through a circular hatch or porthole, surrounded by the stark industrial geometry of what appears to be a submarine or large vessel rendered in deep yellows and blacks. It's a quietly tense composition — Dave Stewart's color palette lending it a mood that feels both claustrophobic and expansive — and a fine showcase of the atmospheric craft that made The Massive one of 2013's most visually distinctive ongoing series.