Man-Bat #5

The five-issue "Man-Bat: The Return" reaches its conclusion with this unsettling October 2006 closer from writer Bruce Jones and artist Mike Huddleston. The cover — penciled and inked by Huddleston — pulls the eye downward into a deeply uncomfortable moment: Man-Bat, green-skinned and snarling with fanged jaws agape, reels as a syringe plunges toward his face, a heavy chain coiling nearby and fiery orange tones blazing across the background. It's a tense, visceral image that makes clear the series is wrapping up on anything but gentle terms.