Strange Academy #12

Subtitled "The Eyes and Teeth and Pain of Misery," this 2021 issue from Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos puts the Strange Academy students in a genuinely unsettling spot — surrounded on all sides by writhing dark tendrils lined with glowing eyes and jagged claws. At the center of the frightened group, a fire-headed student kneels ready to fight while his terrified classmates — including a purple-skinned girl, a grey-skinned creature, and several others — press together behind him, their expressions ranging from sheer panic to wide-eyed dread. Ramos and colorist Edgar Delgado give the whole scene a vivid, kinetic energy that makes the darkness feel genuinely threatening, a perfect encapsulation of what this series does so well.