The Loners #1

Five former crime-fighters sprawl across a Los Angeles street map on this striking opener to Marvel's six-issue limited series — a helmeted figure in black looms at the back, flanked by a masked young man in a jacket and gold-badged gloves, while a woman in a dark armored suit, a brooding man in a brown coat, and a smiling blonde round out the group at the front. The cover by Jason Pearson perfectly captures the tagline's tension: "They used to battle evil, but now they're trying to save themselves." C. B. Cebulski, Karl Moline, and Christina Strain bring us "Fear of Flying," a series about six ex-heroes trying to figure out who they are without the masks — and whether they can stop being heroes at all.