Kafka's Manuscript #[nn]

Jason Novak's Kafka's Manuscript arrives from Fantagraphics with a deceptively spare cover: a lone figure, briefcase clutched tight, scrambles urgently up a staircase into an overwhelming darkness — movement and anxiety distilled into a single, stark image. The minimalist two-tone linework does a quiet but effective job of setting a mood that feels both literary and unsettling. If that cover is any indication, this is comics storytelling with genuine atmosphere to spare.