Agent X #10

Part one of a two-part story kicks off with this 2003 Marvel series entry, sporting the characteristically cheeky tagline "Read This or We'll Kick Your Guts Out!" The cover by Juan Bobillo and Marcelo Sosa presents a battered, muscular figure aiming a pistol while a fierce red-haired woman crouches at his side gripping a blade — a tense, gritty pairing that sets the tone for writer Evan Dorkin's tale. It's a punchy, kinetic image that makes issue #10 hard to pass by on the shelf.