Black Ops #1

Image Comics launched this action-packed series in January 1996 with a cover by Dan Norton and Alex Garner that immediately establishes the tone: a squad of four heavily armed women, each distinct in costume and attitude, assembled in a dynamic collage composition. The dominant figure thrusts a pistol directly at the viewer with purple-gloved hands, while her teammates — one wielding a scoped rifle in red gloves, another in dark tactical gear, and a fourth operating a handheld device — surround her against a split background of fiery orange and cool blueprint-style schematics. With writing by Shon Bury and Dan Norton and inks by Sandra Hope, Black Ops #1 arrives looking like a sharp, stylish take on covert action that fans of 1990s Image energy won't want to miss.