Angel: After the Fall #5

Franco Urru's cover for this 2008 IDW series packs in a sprawling ensemble — Angel and Spike front and center, surrounded by a determined group of allies including a green-skinned demon, a blonde woman, and several others bracing against something far bigger than themselves. Looming above them all are two massive, monstrous presences — a reptilian creature and a shadowy beast with glowing eyes — that make the stakes feel genuinely dire. With Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch steering the story, issue #5 of After the Fall promises a cast already pushed to their limits and nowhere left to retreat.