Punisher #11

Part five of Garth Ennis and Leandro Fernández's "Kitchen Irish" arc arrives with one of the MAX line's most unsettling cover images: a skull-masked figure in a dark suit raises a glass toward the viewer, a cross pendant at his throat and a cigar tucked between his fingers — and reflected in that glass is the shadowy silhouette of the Punisher himself. Tim Bradstreet's photo-realistic cover art gives the whole thing a cold, ritualistic weight, as though a toast is being offered to someone who very much doesn't want to be found. If you've been following this gritty, mature-readers run, issue #11 keeps the tension exactly where it needs to be.