Ex Machina #38

This September 2008 WildStorm issue of Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina reaches the third chapter of "Dirty Tricks," with a cover by Tony Harris that's equal parts unsettling and arresting. A skull-masked, heart-adorned villainess crouches atop an exposed human brain, her arms spread wide, while beneath her looms a massive face peering through amber-lensed goggles — all set against a background of ominous red circuitry. Harris's composition makes the most of that brain-as-throne imagery, promising that the series' blend of political intrigue and superhero strangeness is in full effect.