Defenders #3

Terry and Rachel Dodson's cover for Defenders #3 pulls no punches: a black-clad, clawed figure lunges forward while Elektra — in her signature red-and-black costume, twin sais raised — commands the center of the composition, both set against a billowing smoky backdrop. Surrounding them are portrait medallions of four additional figures, including a stern-faced Doctor Strange and a pale, silver-skinned visage that hints at the team's extraordinary roster. With Matt Fraction writing a group billed as "Protecting Humanity from the Impossible," this 2012 series brings together an eclectic lineup that feels genuinely unlike anything else Marvel was publishing at the time.