2000 AD #1361

Two figures lock eyes across the edge of a drawn blade on Simon Davis's tense cover for this October 2003 prog — a dark-haired warrior in black facing a red-gloved, cigarette-smoking adversary with shades and wild auburn hair, their weapons pressed together in a moment of dangerous proximity. The tagline "Finny Gets Up Close and Personal" sets the stakes perfectly for the Shotgun Samurai feature within, brought to life by writer Gordon Rennie, artist and inker Inaki Miranda, colorist Eva de la Cruz, and letterer Tom Frame. It's the kind of charged, up-in-your-face confrontation that reminds you why 2000 AD has always delivered searing science fiction week after week.