Mark Hazzard: Merc #10

Part of Marvel's ambitious New Universe line, this 1987 entry in the Mark Hazzard: Merc series puts its hero front and center in a heart-stopping freefall. The cover by penciler Mike Zeck and inker Bob McLeod captures Hazzard in full combat gear plummeting through the sky alongside two other figures — a blonde operative and a third soldier — as a burning aircraft trails fire and smoke above them. It's a kinetic, vertically charged image that sells the high-stakes, military-thriller tone of the series perfectly, ahead of the interior story "Iran Slam" crafted by writer Doug Murray and artist Gray Morrow.