Ultimate Captain America #3

Against a stark, rust-colored sky and jagged rocky terrain, Ron Garney's cover puts the Star-Spangled Avenger in full combat mode — Captain America leaps overhead, shield raised, driving a knee into a bald, tattooed opponent whose face bears a stars-and-stripes design of his own. The visual tension between these two flag-themed combatants makes this penultimate chapter feel genuinely charged, with writer Jason Aaron and artist Ron Garney clearly pushing both hero and antagonist to their physical limits. If the first two issues have you hooked, this 2011 Marvel series is delivering on its promise.