Empire #5

The cover of this fifth chapter of DC's mature-readers series fills the foreground with the imposing golden-and-red masked visage of the villain Grod, daggers in hand, while a yellow-and-black costumed figure strides forward in the midground — and surrounding them, portrait-style insets reveal a cast of supporting characters: a dark-haired woman in pink, a red-haired woman, a woman in purple, a stoic man in dark armor, and a bald figure below. Barry Kitson's linework gives the whole ensemble a sleek, dynamic energy that makes the power dynamics within Grod's empire feel genuinely charged. "Good Intentions" promises exactly the kind of morally complex storytelling that made this 2004 series stand out on DC's shelves.