Punisher: The Tyger #1

From Marvel's MAX imprint comes this 2006 one-shot pairing Garth Ennis with artist John Severin for "The Tyger," a story that clearly carries some weight. Tim Bradstreet's cover sets the mood perfectly — a grim, battle-worn Frank Castle stands in the foreground, his skull emblem visible on his chest, while the enormous, ghostly visage of a tiger looms behind him against a sepia-washed, war-torn skyline. The composition suggests something primal and haunting lurking beneath Castle's relentless exterior, making this one hard to pass up.