Animal Man #15

This September 1989 issue plunges Animal Man into an urgent underwater crisis, with Brian Bolland's cover depicting Buddy Baker in his distinctive orange-and-black costume surging through churning green water toward a woman who is tumbling helplessly alongside an orca and a dolphin, a trail of blood in the water adding a visceral sense of danger. The scene perfectly frames the promise of "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" — a story where the animal kingdom and human stakes collide in the deep. Grant Morrison, Chas Truog, and Doug Hazlewood were at the height of their run together, and this issue looks like exactly the kind of urgent, conscience-driven adventure that made this series so compelling in 1989.