Hard Time #7

A teenage boy's intense, watchful eyes dominate this striking DC Focus cover as his hands hold a spread of tarot-like cards, each depicting a different figure from his world — a man bearing a cross, a woman in a robe, a glowing supernatural presence, and others — suggesting a life defined by forces both human and unearthly. Brian Hurtt's cover art balances gritty realism with an unsettling symbolic weight, perfectly suited to the series' prison-set premise. With Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes, and Hurtt collaborating on "Absentia," this 2004 installment of Hard Time carries the quiet intensity the DC Focus imprint did so well.