Macedonian illustrator Marko Manev has designed minimalist superhero-themed posters before (check out his Watchmen and Marvel projects on Behance), but his latest series, Superhero Noir, is quite a step up from that work. These are powerful, cinematic, renditions of classic comic book heroes. No wonder these images are showing up all over the internet right now — they're breathtakingly good, reminding you of how dramatic (or downright majestic) these characters can be when used right.  No wonder that when the Bottleneck Gallery announced they were selling prints of a couple of these designs yesterday, they sold out in minutes.

Check out the examples below, then head over to see a few of these not featured here or in Manev's Behance gallery over at his Tumblr blog.