New Avengers: Illuminati #1

Part of Marvel's 2006 "Road to Civil War" buildup, this one-shot spotlights the Illuminati — a shadowy council of Marvel's most powerful minds — rendered in Gabriele Dell'Otto's moody, painterly cover art. The image assembles a group of grave, sharply dressed figures including a cloaked sorcerer, a gleaming armored hero, and several other formidable individuals, their expressions radiating quiet intensity and barely contained tension. With writing by Brian Michael Bendis and art by Alex Maleev, colored by Dave Stewart, this is a compelling piece of the puzzle leading into one of Marvel's most ambitious storylines.