Trials of Shazam #5

Issue five of this twelve-part DC series from March 2007 brings the cover tagline "Desert Storm!" to vivid life, with Howard Porter delivering a tense standoff between two armed human figures — one lean and battle-ready, the other larger and gripping an assault rifle — as a horde of snarling, tusked pig-like creatures armed with blades and energy weapons bears down on them. The lead beast, spiked and armored in purple, looms over the scene with unmistakable menace, and the arid, sandy setting reinforces the desert-warfare theme perfectly. Winick and Porter are clearly steering Trials of Shazam into some genuinely wild mythological territory, and this cover makes a compelling case to grab issue five.