Dark Horse Presents Annual #1999

The Dark Horse Presents Annual for 1999 takes a charming yearbook concept and runs with it — the cover presents a school-photo-style grid featuring recognizable faces including Groo, Xena, Luke Skywalker, and several other Dark Horse favorites, each captioned with playful superlatives and futures ("Voted most likely to become a Warrior Princess" and the like). The premise, splashed right on the cover, promises stories of your favorite characters before they became your favorite characters, making this a genuinely fun anthology package. With cover art contributed by an impressive roster including Sergio Aragonés, Mike Mignola, Paul Chadwick, Joyce Chin, and Stan Sakai among others, the collective craft on display here is reason enough to flip it open.