Uncanny X-Men #6

Frazer Irving's moody, atmospheric cover for this 2013 Marvel NOW! issue places a glowing, helmeted figure — massive and looming — above a smaller character caught in a swirling inferno below, the fiery oranges and deep greens creating an almost painterly sense of dread. The composition immediately signals a serious power imbalance, with those enormous hands framing the scene like a trap closing shut. Brian Michael Bendis and Irving together make this chapter of Uncanny X-Men look like essential reading.