Doctor Fate #18

A skeleton writhes in anguish beneath a swooping black raven, while the iconic golden helm of Dr. Fate rests chained and grounded nearby — it's a haunting image that promises something profound is stirring in J. M. DeMatteis and Shawn McManus's run on this mystical series. The cover, rendered entirely by McManus, bathes the scene in eerie yellow light that gives the whole composition an otherworldly, unsettling glow perfectly suited to a story titled "Emergence!" From 1990, this issue captures the book at a moment when DC's sorcerer supreme feels genuinely strange and unpredictable in the best possible way.