Ascension #4

Dave Finch and Matt Banning deliver a genuinely striking cover for this 1998 Image/Top Cow series, centering on a gaunt, skeletal winged demon with blazing orange eyes that dominates the composition with an unsettling, almost oppressive presence. Surrounding it, the faces of several characters — a silver-haired woman, a brooding dark-haired warrior, and others bathed in deep shadow and cool blue light — loom like a gallery of souls caught in its orbit. Colorist Liquid!'s rich blend of smoldering reds and midnight blues gives the whole image a dark, atmospheric intensity that makes Ascension #4 a compelling artifact of late-'90s fantasy horror comics.