Green Lantern #45

Part of DC's sweeping 2009 "Blackest Night" crossover, Green Lantern #45 delivers a cover — penciled by Doug Mahnke and inked by Christian Alamy — that crackles with inter-corps conflict. Sinestro, blazing yellow ring extended and teeth bared, trades a searing beam of energy with a violet-suited Star Sapphire who lunges toward him against the looming backdrop of what appears to be a massive planetary construct bathed in eerie pink light. Writer Geoff Johns's story title, "Love Hurts," makes that clash of fear and love feel perfectly, grimly apt.