Azrael #44

Azrael charges headlong through a wall of fire on this striking August 1998 cover, clad in his red-hooded costume and golden armor, sword raised and ready as his black horse surges forward with wild-eyed intensity. The inferno surrounding them — all churning oranges and crackling yellows — gives the image an almost apocalyptic weight that perfectly suits a story titled "Angel and the Beast: The Crash." Roger Robinson and James Pascoe deliver a cover with real kinetic energy, making this forty-fourth installment from Dennis O'Neil's run one that's hard to set back on the shelf.