Checkmate #22

This November 1989 issue of DC's espionage series drops readers right into the deep end — literally. Steve Erwin's cover depicts a blue-and-gold costumed figure plunging beneath the water's surface, trailing a cascade of bubbles, while armed figures on a dock above take aim downward into the churning waves. The split perspective — underwater tension below, gunmen above — makes for a genuinely gripping composition that sets the stakes for "One Wet and Wild Knight, Part II" with cool, confident style.