El fuego

This introspective offering from Rubín (Cosmic Detective) unpacks an existential crisis in a visually stunning sci-fi narrative. With a massive meteorite headed toward Earth, the brilliant, egotistical architect Alexander Yorba takes the lead role designing a lunar colony to ensure the survival of humanity, or at least the portion that can afford it. After his arrival on the moon, he's diagnosed with terminal cancer, giving him roughly the same amount of time left as those on Earth. He returns to take a stand against the elites who employ him, but his protest, though cathartic, has unintended consequences: a ubiquitous media smear campaign against him, and invasive surveillance that thwarts his plan to spend his final days with his neglected wife and child. With the dawning awareness that he too was a member of the privileged class, he wanders a doomed planet, visiting old friends and lovers, whose dissonant recollections topple the "house of cards" of his self-mythology. Rubín's expressive artwork recalls his sometimes-collaborators Jeff Lemire and Paul Pope, with its real-world grit, dreamlike wordless sequences, and dramatic spreads. This contemplative tale of a self-styled hero with feet of clay will resonate with any reader who has fallen short of their grand ambitions. (Feb.)