Battle Scars #2

Part of Marvel's 2012 "Shattered Heroes" crossover event, this second chapter of the six-issue limited series delivers a cover packed with kinetic energy — Captain America leaping into the fray with shield raised, a skull-masked sword-wielding attacker lunging at him from the left, while in the foreground a dark-clad young man grapples fiercely with a muscular opponent. Carlo Pagulayan's pencils and Jason Paz's inks give the whole scene a punishing, ground-level intensity that fits the series' military-tinged tone perfectly. With Yost, Fraction, and Bunn co-writing and Scot Eaton on interior art, Battle Scars #2 clearly isn't short on talent driving this action-charged story forward.