Elektra: Assassin #6

Six issues into this bold eight-part Epic Comics limited series, Elektra: Assassin continues to push the boundaries of what Marvel was publishing in 1987. Bill Sienkiewicz's cover is a striking wash of amber and rust, with Elektra — in her signature red and white — lunging forward with a gleaming sword in one hand and a sai in the other, a ghostly, looming face dissolving into the painted background behind her. The fluid, painterly expressionism Sienkiewicz brings to every cover element makes this one of the most visually arresting issues on the stands that year.