Mystique #21

Part two of the "Quiet" arc finds Mystique—blue-skinned, yellow-eyed, and armed with twin pistols—commanding the center of a dramatic chessboard floor, with a fallen figure at her feet and additional armed men positioned around her. Looming above it all is an enormous grasping hand, framing the shapeshifter as a puppet or a prize in someone else's dangerous game. Mike Mayhew's painterly cover work gives the whole scene a sleek, cinematic tension that makes this 2005 Marvel series feel every bit as stylish as its lead character.