Omega: The Unknown #7

Penultimate-stretch tension runs high in issue seven of ten in this 2008 Marvel limited series, and Gary Panter's cover captures it with raw, feverish energy — three armored robot figures advance through a cityscape engulfed in fire and chaos, hovering disc weapons at the ready, while a panicked crowd scrambles below amid the destruction. Panter's jagged, hand-hewn linework gives the whole scene a visceral urgency that sets this series apart from standard superhero fare. With Jonathan Lethem, Karl Rusnak, Farel Dalrymple, and Paul Hornschemeier shaping the interior, this is one of Marvel's more genuinely distinctive offerings from that year.