Astro City #3

Alex Ross's painted cover for this October 2013 Vertigo issue radiates warmth and emotional complexity — a red-costumed, star-emblazoned hero looms large while, at the center, an ordinary couple embraces joyfully, a young woman reaches out nearby, and a regal armored figure sweeps dramatically overhead. A tablet screen in the foreground reflects a crowd scene, grounding the superhuman spectacle in everyday human experience. With Kurt Busiek writing and Brent Eric Anderson on art, "Mistakes" promises the kind of deeply human storytelling that makes Astro City so consistently rewarding.