Astonishing X-Men #15

Part three of "Torn" arrives with one of the more unsettling covers of 2006 — John Cassaday renders four figures in stark grayscale against a blazing red background, their faces tilted upward in expressions ranging from cold resolve to something closer to dread. A dark boot looms overhead, suggesting someone stands over them in a position of dominance, while Emma Frost, a dark-haired woman, and two others stare up with unnerving intensity. Joss Whedon and Cassaday continue to push this arc into genuinely tense territory, and this cover alone makes it clear the X-Men may not be the ones holding the power right now.