Captain America #13

The cover by Andy Kubert and Jesse Delperdang delivers an immediate gut-punch: Captain America is on his knees amid crumbling brick and debris, straining against converging energy blasts while his shattered shield — cracked nearly in two — hovers ominously above him. It's a raw, desperate image that makes "Plausible Deniability" feel like a story with real stakes. Mark Waid's 1999 run continues to put the Star-Spangled Avenger through the wringer, and this issue looks like no exception.