Jack of Fables #41

Riding atop an enormous, gleaming insect as dark, clawed creatures close in from all sides, Jack cuts a bold figure on Brian Bolland's striking cover for this 2010 Vertigo series — curved blade in hand, grinning with the kind of reckless confidence only he could muster. This issue kicks off "The Fulminate Blade — Kings of Earth and Sky," a five-part arc crafted by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges with interior art by Tony Akins, Andrew Pepoy, and Joe Rubinstein. If you've been following Jack's spectacularly chaotic adventures, this opening chapter looks like it's raising the stakes in genuinely grand fashion.