Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #3

The Dark Reign era's darker corners come into sharp focus with this concluding chapter of Frank Tieri and Santolouco's three-part series. The cover delivers a striking image: the armored Iron Patriot strides forward through a wall of flame, standing over a field of fallen figures — including someone in a Wolverine-style mask and others strewn across the rubble — projecting an unsettling, triumphant menace. It's a powerful closing image for a 2009 limited series that places Norman Osborn's shadow squarely over a group of villains with nowhere left to run.