The Black Hood #5

Dark Circle Comics' noir-edged series reaches its fifth chapter of "The Bullet's Kiss" with a cover that commands attention: two battered, bloodstained fists thrust upward against a stark orange backdrop, radiating battered defiance and hard-won determination. Francesco Francavilla's cover art gives the Black Hood an almost elemental presence — no face needed when bruised knuckles and torn gloves tell the whole story. With Duane Swierczynski writing and Michael Gaydos on interior art, this 2015 series was already earning praise as one of the sharpest crime books on the stands.