S.H.I.E.L.D. #3

Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver's ambitious S.H.I.E.L.D. reaches its third chapter with a cover by Gerald Parel that practically radiates menace — a massive armored figure dominates a burning cityscape, flames erupting behind it while a second figure braces against the chaos in the foreground. The dark, painterly atmosphere and those concentric rings radiating from the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo overhead give the whole image a sense of cosmic unease that fits "The Fall" perfectly. Sonia Oback's colors on the interior bring the same level of craft to Weaver's pages, making this 2011 series one of Marvel's most visually distinctive offerings of its era.