Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #518

Rain-slicked and crackling with electricity, Simone Bianchi's cover for this 2011 Marvel issue places the Black Panther looming behind a battered man in a suit who grips a glowing blue weapon while crouching low — the contrast between the suited figure's desperation and the Panther's coiled, predatory calm gives the image a genuinely compelling tension. Lightning surges around both figures against a grimy urban backdrop, perfectly matching the series' street-level noir tone that IGN called "a gritty, violent action romp." David Liss and the multi-talented Francesco Francavilla — handling art, inks, and colors — make this one of Marvel's more distinctive titles of the era.