The Shadow #6

This sixth and final chapter of "The Fire of Creation" arrives with one of the most arresting covers of 2012: Alex Ross renders The Shadow in an extreme close-up, his face a terrifying fusion of living flesh and exposed skull, hat brim cutting across the top of the frame and red scarf billowing below, while a ring with a deep crimson stone gleams on his outstretched hand. It's a visceral, painterly image that captures everything unsettling about this pulp avenger — part man, part myth, entirely dangerous. Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell bring their arc to a close inside, and this Ross cover sets the stakes at an appropriately chilling height.