Spider-Man #56

Part three of the "Smoke and Mirrors" arc lands with a cover that throws a lot at you at once — a menacing red-and-blue armored figure looms large on the left, the shadowy Jackal lurks in the center, and Spider-Man swings in from the right, all surrounding a blonde woman the cover boldly identifies as Gwen Stacy. Tom Lyle's cover art crackles with tension, the taglines "The Triumph of the Jackal…" and "…And the Return of Gwen Stacy?!" doing their job perfectly to raise the stakes heading into this 1995 conclusion. Howard Mackie's story promises truths and deceptions in equal measure, and with a cast this charged, this final chapter looks like a satisfying payoff to the arc.