Elephantmen #22

Part seven of the "Dangerous Liaisons" arc, this 2009 Image series continues to deliver the kind of visceral, imaginatively grotesque imagery that sets Elephantmen apart. The cover puts it bluntly with its banner headline — "Hippopotamus Wrecks!" — and delivers on that promise: a heavily armored, gun-toting hippo-human hybrid rides atop a massive, scaly creature whose gaping maw and cold reptilian eye dominate the foreground in stunning, textured detail. It's a cover that grabs you by the collar and pulls you straight into the wild, pulpy world Richard Starkings built.