Coming this fall: “Film Noir 101” a lavish compendium of “the 101 best film noir posters from the 1940s-1950s.” Written by noir scholar—and graphic designer—Martin Fertig, the book compiles beautifully reproduced poster art alongside critical commentary. It’s interesting to note that while noir films of that era were almost exclusively in black and white, the posters are almost all in color, and as such employ an entirely different visual language to advertise their wares. They’re louder and more fiery than the movies themselves, bordering on operatic in many instances.

In case you can’t wait until the September release, back in 2011 Fertig picked his one-hundred greatest film noir posters of all time over at his excellent noir-focused blog Where Danger Lives, though Fertig painstakingly provides insightful commentary for each one. In fact, if you scroll all the way down to see his pick for number one, you’ll find that he makes some surprisingly broad declarations about it:

From the perspective of the graphic designer this is the greatest film poster of all time. No example from another era, nor one in another style, genre, or whatever you want to call it so perfectly (or simply) communicates the content of its film nearly as well as the poster for…

I won’t spoil the ending for you; you can read it here, and you can pre-order the book here.