The Boys #33

Darick Robertson's cover for issue thirty-three puts the patriotic superhero Soldier Boy front and center — battered, bruised, fist clenched, and clutching his gold eagle-emblazoned shield amid billowing smoke — and the sight manages to be equal parts ridiculous and genuinely unsettling. The deliberate indignities visible on his costume make clear that Garth Ennis and the art team have no intention of letting cape-and-shield heroism off the hook. Part three of "The Self-Preservation Society" keeps The Boys operating at the sharp, uncomfortable edge it does so well.