Black Lightning: Year One #4

The penultimate stretch of this six-part 2009 DC limited series finds Black Lightning in a tense moment, hunched over a podium as crackling bolts of electricity surge around him — his expression strained, his lightning-bolt emblem vivid against his jacket. Looming behind him is a grinning, red-skinned villain whose menacing smile dominates the upper half of the cover, while a determined young woman in purple stands her ground nearby, suggesting the stakes are rising on multiple fronts. Writer Jen Van Meter and artist Cully Hamner continue to flesh out Jefferson Pierce's formative years with a cover that crackles with tension and purpose.