Guarding the Globe #6

The sixth issue of Image's Guarding the Globe closes out 2011 with a cover by Ransom Getty that commands immediate attention: a white-haired figure in a red-and-gray suit hoists a massive, bare-chested masked opponent by the throat, the two of them towering over a sprawling pile of costumed heroes who lie defeated across the ground below. The sheer scale of that fallen crowd — masks, capes, and limp bodies stretching wall to wall — makes the stakes feel enormous before you've even opened the cover. Robert Kirkman and Benito Cereno's script, brought to life inside by artist Kris Anka, promises a conclusion worthy of that striking image.