Supreme Power #9

Supreme Power #9 brings J. Michael Straczynski's mature MAX Comics series to a fever pitch, with Gary Frank's cover depicting a powerful figure in a tattered costume surging upward through billowing clouds of smoke and fire, his eyes glowing violet and points of brilliant golden energy crackling across his body. The torn uniform and raw, unleashed power radiating from every limb make this one of 2004's most viscerally striking covers in the series. If you've been following this bold, uncompromising superhero saga, issue nine — "Ten O'Clock" — looks like a turning point you won't want to miss.