24: Nightfall #1

The tension-soaked world of 24 arrives in comics form with this 2006 IDW series opener, its cover by Joe Corroney capturing the show's signature split-panel urgency. A determined agent raises his gun in the foreground while a weathered, bearded figure looms in the upper panel, a man on a cell phone stands before an American flag, military jets streak through the sky, and a countdown clock ticks down through the hours — every element reinforcing how much is at stake. With Mark L. Haynes and J. C. Vaughn writing and Jean Diaz on art, Nightfall looks primed to translate that real-time dread onto the page.