Avengers: The Children's Crusade #9

The grand finale of Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung's nine-issue limited series arrives with a cover that pulls out all the stops — a massive assembly of heroes charging forward, anchored by a figure wielding Captain America's shield at center, while the looming presences of Doctor Doom and Magneto dominate the background alongside a soaring scarlet figure overhead. Iron Man, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, and a host of Young Avengers including Speed, Stature, and Patriot fill out the ranks, rendered in Cheung's characteristically precise and dynamic linework with Ponsor's fiery red palette lending the whole scene an appropriately apocalyptic weight. A fitting send-off image for one of Marvel's most ambitious limited series of 2012.