The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #48

The cover of this 2019 Marvel issue — cheekily billed as "the antepeNUTimate issue" — finds Squirrel Girl seated on the ground, her magnificent tail splayed behind her, gazing up at a looming Doctor Doom while a golden griffin statue watches from the shadows. The subdued, almost cinematic lighting gives the scene a surprisingly weighty atmosphere, a nice contrast to the series' signature wit. With North, Charm, and Renzi bringing this penultimate stretch home, issue #48 promises the kind of meeting that only this series could make feel both genuinely tense and a little delightful.