Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #24

Three faces dominate Phil Noto's striking cover: a platinum-blond Spike commands the foreground with an intense, steely gaze, while Buffy looms over his shoulder in cool profile and a dark-haired young woman — rendered with an ethereal, ghostly quality — floats in the lower corner. It's a brooding, layered composition that sets a tense, emotional tone perfectly suited to "The Core, Part Four," the penultimate chapter of Season 9's closing arc. Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, and Dexter Vines deliver the story inside, making this 2013 Dark Horse issue a compelling read as the season races toward its conclusion.