Judge Dredd #5

Issue five of IDW's Judge Dredd series opens "The Long Fail Pt. 1" with a cover by Zach Howard that radiates pure menace — Dredd looms in full armor and eagle-helmet above two fallen, bloodied figures sprawled across what appears to be a gore-slicked weapon, his expression as uncompromising as Mega-City One's law itself. The low-angle composition makes Dredd feel genuinely imposing, the gold and red of his uniform cutting sharply against an ink-black background splattered with bursts of color. Duane Swierczynski and Nelson Dániel's 2013 run was delivering some sharp street-level Dredd storytelling, and this cover sets an appropriately grim, high-stakes tone for the arc ahead.