Dark Reign: Hawkeye #3

Part three of this five-issue Dark Reign limited series delivers a striking split-face cover by Clint Langley that says everything without saying a word — one half reveals Bullseye's pale, target-tattooed visage with an arrow clutched in hand, while the other half shows the masked, steely-eyed face of Hawkeye, the two identities uncomfortably merged into one haunting image. It's a sharp visual distillation of the series' central tension, rendered in moody purples and cool whites that give the whole thing an unsettling, cinematic weight. Andy Diggle, Tom Raney, Scott Hanna, and Guru eFX continue their collaboration here, making this a compelling chapter in one of 2009's more psychologically charged Marvel limited series.