Scratch #1

Sam Kieth kicks off this five-issue DC miniseries with a cover that sets the mood perfectly: a massive, red-furred werewolf crouches beneath a full moon, all bared fangs and curved claws, while a shadowy Batman looms behind him against a bare, gnarled treeline. The cover's own question — "Is Batman His Defender or His Doom?" — frames the uneasy tension between the two figures beautifully. If you've appreciated Kieth's distinctive, visceral linework elsewhere, this 2004 series promises an intriguing collision of Gotham's brooding guardian and a young werewolf prowling the DC Universe.