Doctor Fate #17

The tagline "A Life for a Life!" sets a weighty, dramatic tone for this 1990 DC series entry, and Shawn McManus's cover delivers on that promise with striking imagery — two ghost-like figures hover in an eerie blue-green glow above a nighttime cityscape, while a massive, looming purple form crouches ominously in the foreground over a prone, anguished figure. The contrast between the ethereal pair above and the raw struggle below gives the cover a genuinely unsettling atmosphere that suits Dr. Fate's world of mysticism and high stakes perfectly. With J. M. DeMatteis and Shawn McManus at the helm for "Afterlives," this issue looks to push the boundaries between life, death, and whatever lies beyond.