Avengers Undercover #5

Baron Zemo sits at a candlelit table on Francesco Mattina's striking cover, one gloved hand gripping a weapon with a glowing red lens and the other poised over a contract with a pen — an image dripping with calculated menace and dark elegance. As IGN noted right on the cover, Dennis Hopeless "writes a mean Zemo" in this tightly plotted, darkly humorous series, and issue five of "Descent" looks to deliver exactly that atmosphere in spades. Kev Walker, Jason Gorder, and Jean-Francois Beaulieu bring the interior to life, making Avengers Undercover #5 a compelling chapter in one of Marvel's more surprisingly sharp 2014 offerings.