Checkmate #9

Greg Rucka and Jesús Saiz continue their espionage thriller with Checkmate #9, "Pawn 502: Part 2," from February 2007. Saiz's cover sets a tense, noir mood — a cigarette-smoking man in a black jacket presses a revolver against a younger figure's chin while a hooded cobra coils menacingly between them, the whole scene steeped in vivid red. It's the kind of cover that promises high-stakes intrigue and morally complicated characters in the world of DC's covert operations.