Astro City #8

Alex Ross's painted cover for this March 2014 Vertigo issue is immediately arresting — a caped figure in dark robes and a red cowl sprawls in the foreground, seemingly overwhelmed, while an enormous golden, winged angelic being looms above with chained hands clasped together, its feathered wings spreading across the entire composition. The scale and tension between these two figures gives "The View from the Shadows" a quietly ominous weight that feels very much in keeping with Astro City's thoughtful approach to superhero mythology. Kurt Busiek, Brent Eric Anderson, and Alex Sinclair bring their full craft to this one.