Dexter's Laboratory #24

Issue #24 of DC's Dexter's Laboratory features a wonderfully off-kilter cover by Bill Wray, presenting a brooding, big-spectacled Dexter wearing a pink-and-white party hat and a green ruffled collar — equal parts birthday boy and reluctant clown. The moody, painterly background gives the image a surprisingly atmospheric quality that sets this 2001 entry apart from a typical all-ages comic. Inside, writer James Denning and artist Matt Jenkins take the boy genius through a story titled "I'm Machine," promising the signature mix of science and humor the series does so well.