Amethyst #2

The second chapter of this four-issue 1987 DC miniseries promises exactly what the cover declares: "The Battle of Magic Begins!" Esteban Maroto's cover illustration crackles with otherworldly energy, pitting a wild-haired, blue-suited Mordru — arms raised and surrounded by a menagerie of snarling, serpentine monsters — against the luminous Amethyst, who stands her ground in flowing ethereal robes with a winged horse glowing at her side. Written by Keith Giffen and Mindy Newell with art by Maroto throughout, this issue channels Gemworld's fantasy mythology into a vivid clash of darkness and light that fans of sword-and-sorcery comics will find hard to put down.