Countdown #31

DC's weekly saga charges forward with issue #31, and Talent Caldwell's cover sets a fierce tone — a blue-cowled, bat-eared figure clashes in brutal close-quarters combat with a dark-clad, clawed opponent, both battered and snarling against a fiery urban backdrop. The tagline "The Crime Society Flies Again!" promises that this alternate-world organization is very much still in play as Paul Dini, Sean McKeever, Keith Giffen, and Manuel Garcia continue the sprawling "New Frontiers" chapter. If you've been following Countdown's week-by-week intensity in 2007, this is exactly the kind of visceral installment that keeps you reaching for the next number.