Adventures of Superman #602

The cover of Adventures of Superman #602 (May 2002) makes a strong first impression: the armored, mechanical-looking Persuader looms large at the center, wielding his massive axe while a sea of masked cultists surges around a barely visible Superman overwhelmed in the crowd below. John Paul Leon's cover work gives the scene a chaotic, pressurized energy — the fiery orange sky behind the Persuader and the sheer mass of white-masked figures packed into every corner convey just how stacked the odds feel. With Joe Casey writing and Pete Woods on interior art, inked by José Marzán Jr., this second chapter of "Cult of Persuasion" looks like exactly the kind of relentless middle-act struggle that keeps readers hooked.