Squadron Supreme #3

The Squadron Supreme stands triumphant — and unsettling — in this third issue, with a central figure sporting a nuclear-symbol belt hoisting a limp, shadowy body overhead while smoke billows ominously above. Around him, a full complement of teammates including a sword-wielding warrior woman, a masked figure kneeling over fallen enemies, and two heroes at his flanks survey a battlefield strewn with defeated opponents at their feet. Alex Ross's painted cover captures the team's cold, morally complex mandate — "protecting the Marvel Universe by any means necessary" — with a quiet intensity that writer James Robinson and artist Leonard Kirk carry into the series.