Daredevil: End of Days #2

The second chapter of this eight-part Marvel limited series announces itself with quiet devastation — Alex Maleev's cover presents a bloodied, unconscious face rendered in unflinching close-up, the crimson spattering across pallid skin setting a tone that is somber and deeply human. It's the kind of imagery that pulls you in rather than shouts at you, perfectly suited to a story called "End of Days." With Bendis, Mack, Janson, Sienkiewicz, and Hollingsworth all contributing, this is a creative assembly that takes Daredevil's world seriously, and this 2013 issue makes clear that what's unfolding is anything but a conventional superhero yarn.