Countdown #2

With only two issues left before Final Crisis, this April 2008 installment of DC's weekly epic raises the stakes in a big way. The cover — penciled and inked by Adam Kubert — dominates with a monstrous, reptile-scaled figure looming over a city engulfed in flames and rubble, its massive green-scaled arms outstretched amid the chaos, while the tagline "The Dark Side of Jimmy Olsen!" teases something deeply unsettling about Superman's pal. It's a striking, visceral image that captures the series' escalating dread perfectly as the countdown reaches its final numbers.