Trials of Shazam #9

Nine issues into this twelve-part DC series, The Trials of Shazam! delivers a clash the cover title says it all — "Apollo's Creed!" A red-suited hero bearing the lightning-bolt emblem squares off against a powerfully built, sword-wielding figure in sandals and a green cape, both locked in an intense, energy-charged brawl across a rooftop. Judd Winick's story and Mauro Cascioli's interior art are matched here by Howard Porter's dynamic cover pencils and inks, making this 2007 issue a compelling chapter in Freddy Freeman's larger mythological gauntlet.