Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #4

Issue four of six in this Marvel limited series finds Iron Man a small but resolute figure, rocket-boots blazing, hovering before a towering, angular fortress bathed in a single dramatic shaft of light from above — a composition that makes the armored hero look genuinely dwarfed by whatever awaits inside. Eric Canete's linework gives the cover a bold, almost retro grandeur, and Dave Stewart's cool blue-and-gold palette lends the whole scene an eerie, monumental weight. With Joe Casey's story at the midpoint of its run, this 2008 series continues to pit classic Marvel mythology against striking modern design sensibilities.