Heavy Liquid
graphic novel by Paul Pope

Paul Pope won accolades recently for his visionary Batman: Year 100, a sort of insane futuristic cyberpunk Batman tale that had undertones of a surveillance society. This is an earlier work, a five-issue series on Dark Horse that takes place an indeterminate amount of time in the future. It concerns a man named S, a semi-criminal “finder” who has recently ripped off a bunch of “heavy liquid,” a mysterious substance and perhaps one of the most valuable on Earth.

Pope’s illustration style is very unique and very eye-catching. The stylized but grounded black-and-white artwork is tinted with one or two colors, and his talent for scene-setting is excellent. If you see it in a used book store or comic place, at the very least flip through it. Or buy it for me.