Thunderbolts #81

Thunderbolts #81 takes a sharp creative detour with a cover that mimics a glossy tabloid magazine, complete with splashy headlines, pull quotes, and a smirking young woman sporting a Spider-Man logo tank top front and center. The cheeky copy — teasing "the new champ's final word," Spider-Man "behind the mask," and the pointed question "Fun while it lasted?" — gives the whole thing an irresistibly playful, tongue-in-cheek energy. Writer John Arcudi and artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco bring a genuinely fresh sensibility to this 2003 chapter of "Getting Even More!," and the cover alone signals that this isn't your typical superhero issue.