Ultimates 2 #8

Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary's cover for this 2005 Marvel issue says everything with one arresting image: Ultimate Captain America, still in full cowl and uniform, staring out from behind a pair of handcuffs locked tight around his wrists. The story title "Born on the Fourth of July" adds a layer of biting irony to the sight of America's super-soldier reduced to a prisoner, and the close, confrontational framing makes the image hard to shake. Mark Millar, Hitch, and Paul Neary were clearly in top form during Ultimates 2, and this issue looks like a compelling chapter in that run.