Captain America #44

This striking cover by Steve Epting splits its central figure — the new Captain America — down the middle, one half showing the star-spangled costume, the other a tactical black suit with a pistol in hand, evoking the character's dual identity as both soldier and spy. Behind him, the American and Soviet flags overlap, while a stern older man looms on one side and a hulking armored figure threatens from the other, hinting at Cold War tensions at the heart of "Time's Arrow, Part 2 of 3." Ed Brubaker and Luke Ross continue what is shaping up to be a taut, globe-spanning espionage arc in this 2009 chapter of their acclaimed run.