Tom Strong #26

Tom Strong takes to the rooftops in this 2004 America's Best Comics entry, with the cover by Chris Sprouse and Karl Story showing the square-jawed hero strapped into a propeller-driven flying contraption, goggles pushed up on his brow, soaring above a city skyline. Behind him on the rooftop ledge, a young woman and a gorilla in a lab coat hurry to keep pace — a perfectly pulpy ensemble that sets an adventurous, retro-sci-fi tone. With Mark Schultz writing, Pascal Ferry on art, and Todd Klein lettering, issue #26's "Panic in the Sky!" tagline promises exactly the kind of high-altitude excitement this series does so well.