Red Robin #17

The "Bad Romance" cover of Red Robin #17 says it all — Red Robin and a sword-bearing woman in ornate red-and-blue samurai-styled armor are locked in a charged, ambiguous embrace, her gloved hand cupping his masked face as his cape billows around them both. Marcus To and Ray McCarthy deliver a cover that's equal parts tension and intimacy, perfectly suited to the "Bad Romance" story arc wrapping up in this Batman Incorporated–era issue. Fabian Nicieza's run on this title consistently finds compelling personal drama beneath the action, and this January 2011 epilogue looks like no exception.