Thunderbolts #30

Part Four of "The Punisher vs. Thunderbolts" arrives with one of 2014's most disarmingly clever covers — Elektra in her red costume, sai in hand, sharing a milkshake across a diner booth with the armored, red-gauntleted Punisher, both leaning in with an intensity that blurs the line between rivalry and something far more loaded. David Yardin's painted cover plays the classic soda-fountain romance image perfectly straight, letting the weapons and battle gear do all the work of undercutting it. With Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Jorge Fornés, and Israel Silva on the interior, this issue promises the same sharp, character-driven energy the arc has been building toward.