Checkmate #23

Castling, Part One" kicks off a new arc in this 2008 DC series, with the cover — penciled and inked by Kalman Andrasofszky — making the stakes immediately clear: a grim-faced man clutches a bundle of writhing snakes while a woman raises a pistol behind him, all set against a red-and-black chessboard backdrop. Looming over them is an ominous caped silhouette bearing a cobra emblem, and the cover copy confirms it — Kobra returns. Writers Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann, joined by artist Joe Bennett and inker Jack Jadson, bring the espionage tension that makes Checkmate one of DC's most satisfying spy thrillers.