Ascension #5

Volume 5 of Shin'ichi Sakamoto's *Ascension* — adapted from Jiro Nitta's novel — brings the series' breathtaking mountain-climbing drama to another gripping chapter. The cover fills the frame with a close-up of a climber's face, dark hair whipping wildly around him, mountaineering goggles pushed up on his forehead, his expression steely and focused against a stark white background that evokes the blinding cold of high altitude. It's a quietly arresting image that captures everything compelling about this series: the raw human will it takes to push toward the summit.