It might sound like an unlikely comparison for a story about religious persecution in 17th century Europe, but at its heart, Lion of Rora is a superhero comic. The book opens with French troops burning a cave of Protestant worshippers alive. It establishes them as a villain worthy of any rogue's gallery, and gives our hero a tragic origin story.

That hero, Joshua Janavel, is the kind of guy you could imagine played by Liam Neeson: a simple farmer who wants to put violence behind him, but incredibly proficient in a fight. Able to put an arrow through a bird mid-flight, fend off an army of six hundred men almost single-handed, and always get the better of the baddies, Janavel is Batman, Superman and Green Arrow rolled into one. Sadly the basis in historical fact means he never transforms into the lion of the title, but thanks to the compelling way his story is told by Ruth Fletcher Gage, Christos Gage, and Jackie Lewis, you'll almost believe he could. [Alex Spencer]