Ultimates 2 #12

The penultimate chapter of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's landmark Ultimates 2 run arrives with a cover that barely contains the chaos — Captain America charges forward front-and-center, shield raised and jaw set, while the Hulk towers behind him in green fury alongside Thor, hammer aloft, and a sprawling mass of heroes including the Thing joining the fray. Hitch's cover art captures an all-hands-on-deck moment that earns the story's bold subtitle, "The Avengers," with every figure radiating the sense that something enormous is at stake. For fans following this 2006 series, this issue promises the kind of grand-scale superhero spectacle that made Ultimates 2 one of Marvel's most talked-about titles of the era.