The Boys #44

Garth Ennis and Russ Braun kick off "Believe - Part One" with one of the series' most arresting images: a costumed superhero — cape, star-accented gauntlets, and a goggled mask — crucified on a full wooden cross against a stark white background, a crown of thorns completing the deliberately provocative tableau. Darick Robertson's cover art makes no attempt at subtlety, fusing superhero iconography with crucifixion imagery in a way that sets a weighty, unsettling tone for whatever this new arc has in store. If The Boys' 2010 run has consistently challenged how we think about power and mythology, issue #44 signals that the series is ready to push even further.