Alter Ego #7

The cover of this seventh volume in Dupuis' *Alter Ego* series — subtitled *Ultimatum* — sets a gripping, paranoid tone: a stern, close-cropped face dominates the right half in cool red tones, while a targeting reticle zeroes in on a crowd of unsuspecting figures on the left, suggesting surveillance, threat, and control all at once. The split composition by Bénéteau is quietly unnerving, balancing the intimate and the anonymous in a single glance. Season 1 reaches its tense conclusion with the creative team of Renders, Lapière, and Reynès, and this 2012 finale looks every bit as charged as that title promises.