Sleeper #9

Sean Phillips's cover for this December 2003 WildStorm/DC issue pulls you in immediately — a bald, mustachioed man in a dark suit crouches low and predatory in a shadowed stairwell, one hand clutching a faintly glowing object while the other reaches toward the ground like a coiled spring ready to release. Ed Brubaker and Phillips bring their signature noirish tension to Sleeper, and this image of barely contained menace sets the tone perfectly for a story titled "For the Wicked." If you like your superhero espionage gritty and atmospheric, this 2003 installment is exactly where you want to be.