The Mighty Crusaders #4

The fourth chapter of DC's six-issue 2010 miniseries brings real tension to its cover, where a snarling, clawed creature lunges toward the viewer while two armored heroes — one cloaked and looming in the shadows above, the other leveling a pistol with fierce resolve — hold their ground against the threat. Stanley "Artgerm" Lau's painted cover work gives the confrontation a cinematic weight, bathing the scene in deep blues and smoldering reds that make the monster's glowing eyes and razor claws genuinely unsettling. With Eric S. Trautmann and Brandon Jerwa co-writing and "Close Quarters" as the story's title, this penultimate stretch of the series promises the kind of up-close conflict the cover so vividly telegraphs.