Checkmate #24

Castling, Part 2: Kobra's Nest" brings the second chapter of this 2008 DC arc to a head, with Kalman Andrasofszky's cover setting the stakes immediately — an armored, red-suited operative surges forward amid swirling energy, while a looming, shadowy figure bearing a star-crested tiara watches from above and armed Kobra soldiers level their weapons below. Writers Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann, with interior art by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson, deliver what promises to be a high-tension infiltration chapter for DC's covert-ops ensemble. If you've been following Checkmate's chess-piece intrigue, this is exactly the kind of cover that makes you want to find out what happens next.