Avengers: The Initiative #20

Avengers: The Initiative #20 drops squarely into Marvel's 2009 Dark Reign era with a cover by Mark Brooks that is quietly striking in its emotional weight — a winged woman in a black-and-gold costume cradles an unconscious (or worse) figure in matching gold-and-black, her expression unreadable but heavy with tension. The stark white background puts all the focus on this unsettling embrace, suggesting that whatever "Acceptable Losses" means in this issue, the cost runs personal. Dan Slott and Christos N. Gage are at the helm, with Steve Kurth on interior art — a solid creative team navigating the Initiative program through one of Marvel's darkest political moments.