Elektra: The Hand #5

The fifth and final chapter of Elektra: The Hand arrives with a cover by Bill Sienkiewicz that feels more like a painting than a comic book page — two figures in richly patterned traditional Japanese robes share an intimate, almost sorrowful embrace, a fearsome dragon motif curling across the fabric between them, while Japanese kanji cascade down the right side against a moody, rain-streaked background. It's a hauntingly tender image that stands in striking contrast to the ninja-and-shadow world this series inhabits. Yoshida, Gossett, Cheung, and Glapion bring this miniseries home in 2005 with a issue that clearly has things other than action on its mind.