Aquaman #61

Part of DC's 1999 "Day of Judgment" crossover event, this issue poses a scorching question right on the cover: "Why the Seas Are Boiling…!" — and the image makes the stakes unmistakably clear. Aquaman, golden-finned and fierce, grapples atop a massive, fang-mouthed sea creature wreathed in hellish fire and crimson chaos, the whole scene framed by licking flames that suggest something far worse than a typical undersea threat. Cover artists Eric Battle and Norm Rapmund deliver a visceral, heat-soaked composition that makes "Dead in the Water" feel like exactly the right title for whatever Erik Larsen and Gary Carlson have in store.