Elephantmen #21

Part six of the "Dangerous Liaisons" arc arrives with one of the series' most visceral covers: a massive, blood-spattered elephant-human hybrid looms over the entire frame, gripping a blade in one hand and a grenade in the other, tusks scarred and expression utterly ferocious. Richard Starkings and Boo Cook's Image Comics series continues to push the boundaries of what anthropomorphic science fiction can look and feel like, and this 2009 installment makes absolutely clear that the stakes have been ratcheted up considerably. If you've been following this arc, the sheer brutality on display here signals that the story is heading somewhere genuinely intense.