The Boys #53

Darick Robertson's cover for issue #53 of Garth Ennis's unflinching superhero satire pulls no punches: a costumed figure in a red-and-blue star-marked helmet lies battered among rubble, mouth agape and wide-eyed, while blood-red hands loom menacingly overhead. It's a visceral, unsettling image that captures exactly the kind of brutal consequences this series delivers to those who wear a cape. "Barbary Coast Part Two" continues what Ennis and artist John McCrea have been building, and this cover makes a compelling case for why The Boys remains one of Dynamite's most gripping mature-readers titles.