Azrael #12

Part two of "Angel Rising" finds Azrael caught in a brutal crossfire on the cover of this January 1996 DC release — his red-and-gold armored suit blazing as a gunman in a blue coat fires point-blank to his left while a powerfully built, shirtless opponent engulfs him in flames from the right. Barry Kitson and James Pascoe's cover crackles with kinetic energy, placing the fleur-de-lis-marked hero at the violent center of a two-front assault that makes it hard to imagine how he walks away intact. Dennis O'Neil's ongoing series was in strong form at this point, and this issue looks every bit the part.