Doctor Fate #12

The cover of this 1989 DC series installment says it all — "The Final Fate?" looms large as a massive, crackling figure tears through the image, wreathed in lightning and clutching an orb of searing orange energy, while smaller figures below watch in apparent desperation. Shawn McManus delivers a striking cover that radiates arcane menace and genuine stakes for the Lord of Order. With J. M. DeMatteis writing and Val Semeiks on interior art, Doctor Fate #12 — the third chapter of "The Death of Innocence" — promises the kind of mystical drama this series does so well.