Astro City #12

Alex Ross's painted cover for Astro City #12 (July 2014) is a genuinely striking piece of work — a tuxedo-clad figure holding a pistol looms over a city skyline, flanked by armed associates, while the heads of a wolf, bald eagle, fox, bear, frog, and other animals overlay the group in an eerie, totemic arrangement. The title "The Deep Dark Woods" promises that Kurt Busiek and artist Graham Nolan are taking the series somewhere wild and fable-like. If you enjoy Astro City's knack for finding fresh angles on superhero mythology, this unsettling, noir-tinged cover makes a compelling case to pick it up.