Empire #4

Mark Waid and Barry Kitson's Empire delivers one of 2003's most compelling villain-centric series, and issue #4 keeps that momentum going strong. Kitson's cover — inked by Kitson himself — frames the armored overlord Golgoth looming large amid a wreath of red roses and scattered skulls, while a determined man in purple levels a gun at the viewer and a red-haired woman in blue stands coolly at center, with a shadowy fourth figure lurking just behind. It's a striking tableau of tension and uneasy allegiances, perfectly suited to a mature-readers story titled "Embers.