Dark Reign: Mister Negative #3

The finale of this 2009 Dark Reign limited series closes on a genuinely unsettling note, with Jae Lee's cover depicting a downed Spider-Man — mask cracked and tattered — looming beneath a pale, knife-wielding hand and a dangling electrical cord. It's a stark, quietly menacing image that captures Mr. Negative's particular brand of cold, calculating threat without a single wasted element. Fred Van Lente and Gianluca Gugliotta bring "Negative Reinforcement" to its conclusion, promising a payoff worthy of the tension Lee's cover so effectively builds.