Whenever I recommend The Cape to someone I usually get “it’s not based on that crappy TV show is it?” My next response is always a decisive and blunt, “HELL NO!” But if it had been, this Cape would have made it more than half a season, that’s if it wasn’t just a mini-series, and I’d be satisfied with just that (still angered that we got Terra Nova over Locke & Key, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!). Sadly, the last issue of this mini-series came out last Wednesday, but this is a series that will have comic lover reading it over and over again.

The Cape is culled from a piece of short fiction in Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts story collection. The story, of the same name, features a pair of brothers, Eric and Nick, whose lives take very different directions after Eric falls out of a tree. For a brief moment before the fall, he hovers in the air, due to the cape that his mother made him out of his old blanket. Over the years, Nick becomes very successful, while Eric becomes a deadbeat, largely alcohol fueled and suffering from chronic injuries. After his girlfriend, Angie, breaks up with him, Eric moves in with his mother, rediscovers the cape and leads to one of the best shocking endings to a short story I’ve read in sometime.

In 2011, The Cape was adapted into comic book glory by the wonderful team of Jason Ciaramella (Writer), Zach Howard (Artist), Nelson Daniel (Colors), and Joe Hill (Creative Consultant). The original one-shot issue adaptation of Joe Hill’s story was nominated for an Eisner Award. This world was further explored in four more issues that deal with the aftermath of Angie’s murder and the rampage that Eric goes on to get even with those that he holds responsible, and those that he doesn’t. All the way to his not-so-tragic death.

The Cape is one of those rare and wonderful comics that explores exclusive powers in a differing manner; it takes the idea of “what if the guy with the only powers is the bad guy.” Like Eric’s brother Nick said “someone has to play the bad guy.”

Without spoiling this series too much, I will present to you my top five favorite moments from this series.

5. Angie’s Murder

This murder, at the end of the original one shot, is one of those shocking moments that, yeah you may see it coming, but not in the way it unfolds. There is a great bit of foreshadowing a few pages earlier on a panel. A jealous Eric is holding a knife, and becomes upset once she finds out that Angie has been talking to Nick. As Eric felt he was dropped by someone he loved, well, he decides to do it physically.

4. Eric Forces His Brother To Put The Mask Back On

In issue #2 of the continued series, there is this moment, as Eric has his mother hostage, where he forces his brother to don a mask, like he did as a child when he was The Streak, the childhood hero he used to play. Unfortunately, the mask, made out of the P.O.W. flag that flew outside of their childhood home, has been soaked in gas and Eric’s got a cigarette in his mouth. You get my drift.

3. The Death of Eric

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the last issue skip this. The death of Eric comes at a bit of a shock. Eric has always had the power in this series, and while he’s got Nick dangling in the air, he doesn’t count on Nick’s brain as a power and he came prepared with scissors. The result is a symbiotic death that mirrors Angie’s in many ways.

2. Planes and Chainsaws, A Surprising Combo

Jason Ciaramella is one of the most brilliant writers in the comic medium today and this sequence from issue #3 of the continued series is just comic book genius. Let’s just say if you’ve got a magic cape and a chainsaw, you can inherently bring down a large jet plane. While the panel below doesn’t show it, it does show the size of the plane that is taken down.

1. Falling Bears May Be a Hazard

This is my all time favorite moment from the series and it’s hard to top. Shortly after Angie’s death, some detectives come around, rub Eric the wrong way and what better way to get revenge then to drop a huge bear on the detectives. This visual spectacle is one I’ve read time and time again, it’s so fracking good!

If you’re a comic book lover and you’re not checking this out, get the hell on it! It’s so rare and so great you can’t help but love this comic! The trade comes out in late May, but if you want it sooner, ComiXology is your hook up. In other words, read the image below.