Invincible #97

Issue #97 of Robert Kirkman's Invincible arrives with one of the series' most viscerally striking covers, rendered by Ryan Ottley: a blood-soaked white background frames a glowing-eyed armored figure — battered and dripping — standing defiantly between two towering, partially visible opponents. The sheer visual tension, with that massive fist looming at the left edge and a dark-costumed figure closing in from the right, makes it clear this confrontation is anything but one-sided. Published in 2012 as part of Image Comics' 20th anniversary lineup, this issue is exactly the kind of gut-punch storytelling that earned the series its bold "best superhero comic in the universe" banner.