Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1

Adam Hughes's cover for this first issue of the four-part Before Watchmen miniseries frames Dr. Manhattan — glowing blue, expressionless, the hydrogen symbol at his brow — looming behind a dark-haired woman in a black outfit, the two figures set against an industrial mechanical backdrop. The composition is quietly unsettling, the woman's gaze directed outward while Manhattan's presence fills the space behind her with an almost otherworldly stillness. J. Michael Straczynski and Hughes team up to explore the inner life of one of the Watchmen universe's most singular figures, and this 2012 opener, "What's in the Box?", promises exactly the kind of introspective, visually arresting storytelling the title deserves.