Hong Kong Triad #2

The second chapter of this French crime series from Soleil pulls no punches — the cover places three tense figures front and center, two of them brandishing handguns while the third stands caught between them against a moody urban backdrop bathed in amber and shadow. It's a tableau that immediately communicates the dangerous, high-stakes world of Hong Kong's criminal underworld that the series promises to explore. Subtitled La Récompense ("The Reward"), this 2000 album by Parnotte, Mallié, and Rieu delivers the kind of atmospheric noir illustration that makes flipping to the first page feel urgent.