Cover Up: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #10

In the pantheon of comic book villainy, Doctor Doom stands alone.

Sure, the Red Skull is the classic Nazi sociopath and Lex Luthor is the consumate mad scientist with an ax to grind, but Victor Von Doom has always been my favorite bad guy. Combining high technology with a medieval flair and a working knowledge of sorcery, there's very little he can't handle (and he'll let you know it).

Which is one of the reasons I like this cover by Mike Zeck so much.

In Marvel's Secret Wars maxi-series, Doctor Doom decides he's had enough of the god-like Beyonder's games and dares to challenge the cosmic being. And as you can probably tell, things don't look like they're going to go Victor's way.

Many of the covers in this series were as corny as the story itself could be, with a metric ton of various heroes and bad guys crammed on the front of almost every issue. But this one was different, showcasing the ultimate bad guy on the cover to Secret Wars #10 and summing up everything you need to know about Doctor Doom; the genius, the power, the sheer defiance that defines him, while also showing that beneath it all, he's still just a man.

Just a man? Looking at this cover you can almost hear it: "Fool! I am no mere man — I AM DOOM!"