Really great discussion of these designs, which are in and of themselves wonderful and striking. 

ananthymous:

oxboxer:

guttersnipercomics:

Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack, vols. 10-17
Designed by Peter Mendelsund 

These are so stylish they make me want to cry.

Love that these step so far out of the norm as far as comics + design goes. The 4-point star centerpiece evokes a surgical procedure in progress, with the ‘flaps’ folded back - note that there are organs or medical anomalies in all of the windows (except for the last volume, which takes the concept a step further by featuring a die-cut window that exposes Black Jack on the page behind the cover). The alternating 4 color grid is an extension of the 4-point centerpiece - unusual, but very eye-catching. Normally printing the title of your book that small would be visibility-suicide, but these designs invite or startle the customer into investigating the book up close. 

I should also point out that it is impossible to miss the Black Jack books when they are filed on a shelf - the bindings feature dense comics art appropriated from the interior of each book. Vertical books have some of the most striking design on the comics shelf right now - often lovely, often shrewd.