Before Watchmen: Minutemen #2

The second chapter of Darwyn Cooke's six-part Before Watchmen: Minutemen series arrives with a cover that pulls no punches — a masked figure in a tan coat raises a blood-smeared baseball bat overhead, grinning with unsettling confidence against a rich purple patterned background, with scattered items including broken glasses visible at his feet. Cooke's bold, retro-inflected linework gives the image a pulpy energy that feels right at home in the Golden Age setting suggested by the story's subtitle, "Golden Years." With Cooke handling both the writing and art, and Phil Noto lending his color work to the interior, this 2012 series continues to make a compelling case for revisiting the world of the Minutemen.