Promethea #24

J. H. Williams III's cover for Promethea #24 is a quietly stunning piece of illuminated-manuscript art, presenting a single figure split down the middle — one half rendered in cool blue tones holding a staff topped with a cross, the other in warm gold bearing a crescent-and-star, with a sun-face medallion at the center where the two halves meet. The ornate floral border, incorporating Arabic script alongside the title, signals that this 2003 issue from Alan Moore and Williams is deeply invested in the interplay of faith, symbolism, and duality. With a story titled "Cross, Star, Moon, Shapes in the Sand," this issue promises the kind of richly layered mythological exploration that made Promethea one of America's Best Comics' most ambitious series.