The Uncanny X-Men #341

The cover of Uncanny X-Men #341 (February 1997) sets the stakes immediately: a lone X-Man in blue and gold squares off against the purple-mohawked, caped powerhouse Gladiator, the two figures locked in a mid-air collision against a blazing pink and orange backdrop. The tagline "Alone Against the Power of Gladiator!" says everything about the odds, and cover artists Joe Madureira and Tim Townsend make those odds feel genuinely daunting — the composition crackles with kinetic energy, Gladiator's red cape sweeping dramatically as fists fly. Scott Lobdell's story promises one of those wonderfully tense solo-hero moments that the series did so well in this era.