The Boys #16

Garth Ennis and Russ Braun bring their sharp, irreverent superhero satire to this French Panini edition of The Boys, collecting stories that pull no punches about the darker side of cape culture. Darick Robertson's cover sets the tone perfectly — a smug, red-caped superhero poses front and center, cigarette in hand, surrounded by a bevy of admiring women in swimwear, the whole scene dripping with the series' signature bad-taste humor. If you've been looking for an entry point into one of the most provocative superhero series of the modern era, this 2012 French-language volume is a stylish place to start.