Shadowland: Blood on the Streets #1

This first issue of the four-part limited series kicks off "Crime and Punishment" with a cover by Francesco Mattina that sets a genuinely ominous tone — a massive, shadowy winged figure looms over the scene while a cloaked figure stands beneath it, and in the foreground three street-level heroes surge forward with weapons ready, bathed in a deep crimson light. The composition does a fine job of conveying the sense that Marvel's darker, grittier corners of New York are under serious pressure in 2010. With Antony Johnston writing and Wellinton Alves on interior art, Blood on the Streets looks like a tense companion piece to the broader Shadowland event.