Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

The penultimate chapter of Grant Morrison's six-part saga arrives with a rain-soaked noir atmosphere perfectly captured in Andy Kubert's cover — a grim-faced figure in a fedora and dark trenchcoat crouches amid the flooded ruins of a burning city, a mysterious glowing energy crackling in one gloved hand while a white flower drifts in the water at his feet. It's a striking image that channels hard-boiled detective fiction while hinting at something far stranger beneath the surface. With Ryan Sook and Mick Gray handling interior art, "Masquerade" promises to be one of 2010's more visually distinctive superhero comics.