Hardware #37

The tagline "Deacon, we have a problem…" sets a tense, high-stakes tone for this 1996 Milestone/DC entry in the Hardware series, and Eric Battle's cover art makes the stakes immediately vivid — Hardware's armor tumbles through the starfield in pieces, trailing a heavy chain, while a shadowy dark-suited figure reaches out against a looming moon and a helmeted figure looms in the background. It's a striking image of a hero in apparent crisis, rendered with real weight and kinetic energy by Battle, who handled both pencils and inks on the cover.