Transmetropolitan #45

This third and final chapter of "Dirge" arrives with one of the more quietly unsettling covers in the series: against a vivid yellow field scattered with tiny smiley faces, a large hand clutches a syringe, and suspended in the falling drop at its needle tip is a tiny, trapped figure — a striking visual metaphor rendered in cool blue by cover artist John Cassaday. Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson's Vertigo series has always balanced dark satire with genuine unease, and this 2001 issue promises a conclusion that carries real weight. If you've been following "Dirge," this is the payoff.