Monstress #53

Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda's Monstress continues its breathtaking run with issue #53, and Takeda's cover art alone makes it impossible to look away. Two formidable women stand back-to-back amid an ornate, gold-filigree throne room — one adorned in intricate armor with dark animal ears, the other draped in an elaborately patterned coat — while a towering, bird-skulled figure looms in the luminous archway behind them, radiating an eerie, otherworldly glow. The atmosphere of uneasy alliance and ancient power that has defined this series is on full display in 2024's finest dark fantasy fashion.