Punisher #12

Frank Castle fills the frame with cold, unflinching intensity on this 2004 Marvel MAX cover — black leather coat, a pistol in each hand, advancing through a dimly lit doorway with the kind of quiet menace that defines Garth Ennis's uncompromising take on the character. Tim Bradstreet's painted cover work gives the Punisher a gritty, almost photorealistic weight that suits the mature-readers tone perfectly. "Kitchen Irish Part Six" promises a serious conclusion to an arc that Ennis and interior artist Leandro Fernández have been building toward all series long.