Black Widow #12

Phil Noto's cover for this 2015 Marvel issue frames Natasha Romanoff's reputation as a public flashpoint — a TV news "Special Report" broadcasts the question "Avenger or Assassin?" alongside her red-tinted face in a targeting reticle, while Spider-Man looms in the foreground watching the screen. The composition is quietly tense, turning a television broadcast into a kind of trial by media that speaks volumes about how the world sees Black Widow. Nathan Edmondson and Noto's run has consistently delivered this kind of sophisticated, espionage-flavored storytelling, and issue #12 looks to carry that mood right through to its "Somalia"-titled story.