Iron Man #5

The penultimate chapter of Warren Ellis and Adi Granov's six-part "Extremis" arc arrives with this striking 2006 issue, its Granov cover presenting Iron Man's gleaming red-and-gold armor looming protectively over a dark-haired woman, the suit's repulsor palms glowing against a backdrop of technical readouts and schematics. There's a quiet intensity to the composition — the armored figure towering behind her feels less like a threat and more like a shield — that sets a genuinely compelling tone heading into the story's finale. With Ellis writing and Granov handling every visual element inside and out, this is a series that wore its ambitions boldly.