Dark X-Men: The Confession #1

A charged, face-to-face confrontation between Emma Frost and Cyclops dominates this 2009 Marvel one-shot, their expressions raw with tension against a blood-red background — Paquette and Lacombe's cover makes it immediately clear that something serious has come between the X-Men's two most powerful figures. Written by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, Dark X-Men: The Confession promises the kind of intimate, high-stakes drama that the broader "Dark Reign" era rarely slowed down enough to deliver. If you've ever wanted to see the complicated heart of the Frost-Summers relationship laid bare, this single issue is exactly the place to start.