Ex Machina #44

A masked, goggle-eyed figure crouches menacingly in what appears to be a sewer or underground tunnel, aiming a strange weapon directly at the viewer — Tony Harris's cover art bathing the scene in unsettling shades of amber and green. The gear emblem on the figure's chest and the industrial cobblestone surroundings give this 2009 Wildstorm/DC issue a tense, retrofuturist atmosphere that feels perfectly at home in Brian K. Vaughan's politically charged series. Arriving as the conclusion to the "Ring Out The Old" arc, this penultimate chapter of Ex Machina promises the kind of high-stakes storytelling the series built its reputation on.