New Avengers #18

The cover by Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines delivers a striking image: a man in a gold underlayer suit — his Iron Man armor exploding and shredding away around him in jagged red and gold fragments — screaming in what looks like agony or sheer, overwhelming force, electricity crackling through the blue background. It's a visceral, arresting visual that sets a genuinely tense tone for "The Collective Part Two," the second chapter in what Brian Michael Bendis is building into a high-stakes arc for the team. Mike Deodato Jr. handles interior art, with colors by Dave Stewart completing the charged atmosphere this series delivered throughout 2006.