Secret Wars #5

The penultimate half of Jonathan Hickman's eight-part epic arrives with a cover by Alex Ross that is genuinely arresting: Doctor Doom's iron mask dominates the right side of the image, a single eye peering through the visor, while a torrent of writhing, glowing energy tears across the composition — multiple faces embedded within it, their expressions caught somewhere between agony and awe. The fiery arc of a planet looms in the background, amplifying the sense of cosmic stakes that has defined this series. With Esad Ribić and Ive Svorcina bringing their painterly vision to the interior pages, Secret Wars #5 continues to feel like one of 2015's most ambitious Marvel undertakings.