A Shadowline Saga: "Critical Mass" #5

The sprawling painted cover by Bill Sienkiewicz says it all — this is a saga that stretches across the full sweep of human history. Labeled figures crowd every corner of the image: Zero of the Ferns (40,000 B.C.), Erik the Zed (1365), Tsar Zerod the Manipulative (1647), Snake Eye Malone (1925), Doctor Zero (1989), and many more, each anchored to their era as fragments of a vast, interconnected tapestry lit in fiery reds and golds. Book five of seven in Epic Comics' Shadowline Saga, with writing by D.G. Chichester and Margaret Clark and interior art by Bret Blevins, this oversized issue makes a compelling case that "Critical Mass" is one of 1990's most ambitious crossover events.