Cases from the Files of Sam Pezzo, P.I. #1

Vittorio Giardino's hard-boiled private eye Sam Pezzo steps onto the American comics scene with this 1988 Catalan Communications edition, opening the files on "The Jockey Rides." The cover, drawn and inked by Giardino himself, sets the mood perfectly: a mustachioed Sam in a sharp pinstripe shirt and tie grips a dark-haired woman by the chin in a tense, charged face-to-face moment, a fedora hanging on the wall behind them hinting at the noir atmosphere within. If you have any appreciation for European crime comics rendered with sleek, confident linework, this is a very satisfying place to start.