The Walking Dead #174

The subtitle "A Solitary Life" says it all — Charlie Adlard's cover depicts a lone, heavily armed figure seated in a darkened doorway, holding a pan over a small open fire while a thin ribbon of smoke curls upward into the blackness, the only warmth in an otherwise stark and isolated scene. It's a quietly striking image that trades the series' usual chaos for something more contemplative and human. Robert Kirkman, Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, and Cliff Rathburn continue to find new emotional registers in this long-running Skybound/Image series with issue #174.