Ninja Boy #5

This WildStorm gem from February 2002 presents a striking and surreal tableau: a serene young woman in an elegant green-and-gold gown, adorned with flowers and framed by a crescent moon, stands at the center while a horde of snarling, purple-hued creatures swarms around her — and a martial-arts fighter in red leaps through the chaos above. Alé Garza's cover pencils give the whole scene a lush, almost fairy-tale quality that sits in fascinating tension with the surrounding monsters and the title's ninja energy. With "Murder Girl 'Monkey' Magic" as the story's name, issue #5 promises that the gentle and the ferocious are about to collide in memorable fashion.